Kansas
Kansas Catholics travel 1,600 miles to help Los Angeles parish
CNA Staff, Feb 3, 2025 /
06:00 am
Catholics in Kansas last week drove a truckload of supplies more than 1,600 miles to Los Angeles to bring some relief to the faithful there who have been devastated by recent wildfires.
Deacon Greg Trum and his wife, Barb, told CNA they were moved to help residents of Los Angeles while putting Christmas decorations away in the storage space of their Leawood, Kansas, home.
“Barb said, ‘Hey, if something’s been in the storage area for a year and we haven’t needed it, it needs to go,’” Trum said, adding that his wife further expressed that she wished they could get some of their belongings to victims of the Los Angeles fires.
Trum’s response? “We could probably load up a truck and do something.”
The Trums asked their pastor, Father Brian Schieber at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, if they could organize the parish to donate supplies. They contacted Paul Escala, the superintendent of Catholic schools in Los Angeles, to determine what parishioners in that city might need. The effort ultimately focused on students and others at St. Elizabeth Catholic School in Altadena.
They put the word out to the St. Michael community. “The response was overwhelming,” the deacon said. “Immediately people started bringing things in.”
The effort began at the St. Michael the Archangel parish school. Trum said the principal told the several hundred children of the school: “If you woke up and had nothing, what would you need? Bring that to these kids.”
“We got a ton of school supplies, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and bedding,” Trum said. “It was originally somewhat focused on the school. But once we knew we were going to overwhelm the school [in Los Angeles] with the supplies, we opened it to family needs.”
Organizers quickly saw that the volume of goods being donated by the parish would require a truck to transport it. Trum was able to secure transportation at a bargain rate.
“I was in the commercial tire business,” he said. “One of my customers was Penske Truck.”
“I didn’t want to get gouged,” Trum said with a laugh. “I called them up and told them about it and said, will you give us a deal?”
According to the deacon, the company responded: “We’ll give you a really good deal — we’ll give you a truck!” All it cost the church was gas, Trum said.
A fellow parishioner, Mike Pollock, oversaw the logistics of boxing up and organizing the supplies. The deacon ultimately rode out with another friend and fellow Catholic, Mike Klover.
On the way out, they stopped at a Catholic parish in Topeka that had heard about the effort and wanted to add supplies to the truck. The city was directly on the route to Los Angeles, so the drivers stopped and loaded up more donations.
After that, “the only room we had on our truck was our two suitcases,” the deacon said. “Mother Mary was definitely in charge, making sure things went well.”
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Both the St. Elizabeth church and school survived, but many members of the parish and school lost their homes in the surrounding area.
The duo traveled a total of 1,653 miles to get to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Pasadena, where the supplies would be dropped off for the nearby St. Elizabeth Parish.
“We had a 3:30 appointment, and we were there at 3:15,” Trum said. Many members of the community turned out to help unload the truck, including Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Brian Nunes.
Trum and Klover stayed overnight two nights with the religious sisters at the Sacred Heart Retreat House in Alhambra before heading back to Kansas.
For Barb Trum, the experience was the fruit of a dedication to Christ and the Virgin Mary. “We have a very deep devotion to the Blessed Mother,” she told CNA. “You have to stay very close to the sacraments every day, whether it’s daily Mass, the Eucharist, reconciliation, or adoration.”
She urged the faithful to “have an open heart to do God’s work and build up the kingdom of God.” She pointed to the Gospel directive in which the faithful are told “if you have two things you’re supposed to give one to someone who needs it.”
“When Jesus calls, we respond,” she said. “That’s what we did.”
Daniel Payne is a senior editor at Catholic News Agency. He previously worked at the College Fix and Just the News. He lives in Virginia with his family.
One of the top prospects in the 2027 boys’ high school basketball recruiting class recently trimmed his list of suitors, and the Kansas Jayhawks find themselves firmly in the mix.
KU is one of eight schools to make the cut for 2027 five-star small forward Demarcus Henry, according to On3 National Basketball Reporter Joe Tipton. His list of eight includes some of the best programs in the country: Kansas, Ohio State, Kentucky, North Carolina, BYU, Arkansas, UConn, and Louisville.
The 6-foot-7 Charlotte, North Carolina, native is one of the best players in the 2027 class. He’s currently ranked as the No. 5 player overall and the No. 1 player at his position, according to the most recent On3.com 2027 player rankings.
As a junior this past year at Compass Prep High School in Chandler, Arizona, Henry averaged 15.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.2 steals per game as he helped lead his team to a 25-3 record.
He followed that up with an impressive performance at the NBPA Top 100 camp this summer, leading all attendees in scoring (20.0 points per game) and rebounding (9.3 rebounds per game). He was also a member of the 2026 USA Men’s U18 National Team that earned a silver medal at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup earlier this summer in León, Mexico.
When speaking about his game, Henry mentions his versatility and how he’s developed over the past year.
“I’m just very versatile,” Henry told Rivals in a previous interview. “I can play one through four and just help my teammates and hit shots and play defense. I watch a lot of KD (Kevin Durant) and Paul George. How they score it, and how they could shoot off the dribble, shoot off the catch. I’ve gotten tougher and just more aggressive when I transferred AZ Compass and just being able to get downhill, I feel like that’s really developed for me.”
When asked about what he’s looking for in a potential home at the college level, Henry says he wants to be challenged and grow his game for the NBA.
“What I’m looking for in school is someone that just pushes me to be better,” Henry said. “Help me grow into the person I know I can be and someone who will help me reach my potential. I want to play for a coach that will hold me accountable and help me make me uncomfortable and keep growing and keep getting better and just help me reach the NBA, which is my ultimate goal.”
Early Contenders
Right now the early favorite to land Henry may be the basketball program with the least amount of notoriety of the final eight schools – and that is Ohio State.
Henry has a lot of familial ties to the university as his older brother Chris Henry Jr. is a five-star incoming freshman wide receiver for the Buckeyes football team this year, and his older sister Seini Henry is a talented women’s basketball player at Ohio State.
He’s already taken an unofficial visit to the school and has also taken an unofficial visit to BYU. Thus far, they are the only schools to have received a visit.
Follow
The Royals have been linked to shortstop Jacob Lombard out of Gulliver Prep (Fla.) — if he makes it that far — left-hander Gio Rojas out of Stoneman Douglas (Fla.) HS, outfielder Eric Booth Jr. out of Oak Grove (Fla.) HS, UC Santa Barbara right-hander Jackson Flora and Georgia Tech outfielder Drew Burress, among others. Maybe they shake up the board and go with Huntington Beach (Calif.) HS left-hander/outfielder Jacob Grindlinger, who is just 17 years old after reclassifying for this year’s Draft and has legitimate upside as a two-way player. Grindlinger is No. 16 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 250 Draft prospects list and is rising on boards as Draft day nears.
Prep players usually mean a lot of upside but with more risk, while college players bring a higher floor and more experience — often with a chance to move quickly. Over the full Draft, the Royals are going to value both.
“There’s a good mix of high school and college,” Bridges said. “To tell you the truth, our range is pretty broad. There’s a clear-cut four players, five players in this Draft, and then believe it or not, where we’re picking, you can go a number of different directions. So we have a pretty good balance of what we’re looking at, both high school and college.”
The Kansas Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at July 7, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Mega Millions numbers from July 7 drawing
02-31-35-36-63, Mega Ball: 12
Check Mega Millions payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from July 7 drawing
Midday: 4-2-9
Evening: 2-7-9
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning 2 By 2 numbers from July 7 drawing
Red Balls: 07-26, White Balls: 12-18
Check 2 By 2 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from July 7 drawing
27-43-48-49-50, Bonus: 02
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Kansas Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $599. For prizes over $599, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at select Kansas Lottery offices.
By mail, send a winner claim form and your signed lottery ticket to:
Kansas Lottery Headquarters
128 N Kansas Avenue
Topeka, KS 66603-3638
(785) 296-5700
To submit in person, sign the back of your ticket, fill out a claim form, and deliver the form along with your signed lottery ticket to Kansas Lottery headquarters. 128 N Kansas Avenue, Topeka, KS 66603-3638, (785) 296-5700. Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.
Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Kansas Lottery.
When are the Kansas Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3 Midday/Evening: 1:10 p.m. and 9:10 p.m. CT daily.
- 2 By 2: 9:30 p.m. CT daily.
- Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Super Kansas Cash: 9:10 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Kansas editor. You can send feedback using this form.
-
Lifestyle2 minutes agoMeow Wolf taps famed L.A. animation house for its new Los Angeles venue
-
Politics9 minutes ago
Column: Trump decries ‘communism’ while his government takes ownership of companies
-
Science12 minutes ago‘I’d rather my house burn down than get cancer’: Herbicide use upends California’s fight to save forests
-
Sports17 minutes agoDodgers scheduled to visit White House in late July to celebrate 2025 World Series win
-
World27 minutes agoFormer US Olympian pleads not guilty in DC reflecting pool vandalism case
-
News54 minutes agoFormer Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoHeat advisory, beach hazards in effect as Southern California sizzles
-
Detroit, MI3 hours agoTeen on moped hit by car after cruising through stop sign in Detroit
