Seven Jesuit Schools Compete in the Great Ignatian Challenge

For the fourth consecutive year, Regis High School is proud and grateful to partner with six other Jesuit high schools from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania to launch The Great Ignatian Challenge, an annual Thanksgiving food drive to raise awareness of hunger in our communities.

The Great Ignatian Challenge, which derives its name from the 16th-century saint and founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius of Loyola, is a friendly but spirited competition that has distributed nearly 150 tons of food to local food banks and pantries – or enough to feed 74,000 people – since its inception. The Challenge runs from October 31 to November 25, 2019.

In addition to Regis, the participating schools are Fairfield College Preparatory School (Fairfield, CT); Fordham Preparatory School (The Bronx); Loyola School (Manhattan); Saint Joseph’s Preparatory School (Philadelphia, PA); Saint Peter’s Prep (Jersey City, NJ); and Xavier High School (Manhattan).

Inspired by the students’ collective commitment to social justice, Jim Rowen P’12 has pledged up to $250,000 this year for tuition assistance at the participating schools. The donation will be divided among the schools based on the amount of food collected per student. Since the initiative launched in 2016, Mr. Rowen has contributed more than $1 million to the effort. Rowen serves as chief operating officer at Renaissance Technologies, LLC, a New York-based registered investment adviser.

“St. Ignatius taught us that love consists of sharing what we have and that it shows itself in deeds more than words,” Rowen said. “Through the Great Ignatian Challenge these students are putting these words into action. I am so very proud and humbled to be part of this effort.”

The food collected by Regis will be donated to the New York Common Food Pantry. Contributions to this effort on behalf of Regis can be made online at https://yougivegoods.com/regis-2019.