The St. Brigid Church Under-10 boys soccer team, the Red Fury, won the Catholic Metro Soccer League (CMSL) championship.

The Red Fury defeated a skilled St. Jude team 5-4. According to coach Miguel Villar, the first four St. Brigid goals were scored by Charlie Fleming. The game was tied 4-4 late in the second half when Nickolas Villar threaded a pass through the St. Jude defense to his brother Joseph Villar. Despite the two defenders and a rushing goalie, Joseph passed in the winning goal.

The Red Fury completed an undefeated season, winning 11 games.

Team members are: Charlie McCoy (most improved player), John Heller (1 goal), Alex Lella (1 goal), Mathias Flanagan (3 goals, too many assists to count), Jared Helton (3 goals, 2 assists), Joseph Villar (6 goals, 6 assists), Charlie Fleming (17 goals), and Nickolas Villar (27 goals, 3 assists).

Congratulations to Brad Wilson, the chief financial officer of the Atlanta Archdiocese.

At the 42nd annual meeting of the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference in Minneapolis, Wilson was elected to the board of directors.

Jason Anandappa, an Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School student, was recently honored at a school assembly for earning 1,272.1 Accelerated Reading Points during the 2010-2011 academic year.

This is an impressive tally for a fourth-grade student. Since Jason began participating in this program he has averaged 210.4 points per quarter. The average number of points of his peers per quarter is 40.

Schools throughout the country use the Accelerated Reading Program to encourage reading and to strengthen reading comprehension. To participate, students read a fiction or non-fiction book and take a quiz. Varying points are given for each test taken. In many schools participation is mandatory, but at IHM it is voluntary.

Last year IHM achieved national levels in reading achievement using the program. According to the program’s data, each IHM student read an average of 342,222 words. From August to October this year IHM students read over 51 million words, according to the school.

Jason is currently a fifth-grade student earning straight A’s. He would like to be either a zoologist or a priest when he grows up.

Pinecrest Academy’s eighth-grade Challenge Club teams, accompanied by their team leaders and Joycelyn Christianson, a consecrated woman, visited Atlanta’s Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home for cancer patients on Saturday, Dec. 3.

After a greeting by a Hawthorne Dominican sister, the girls visited the bedridden patients and sang carols.

An especially memorable moment was a visit to the bedside of a young Hispanic woman, who was very ill. She did not speak English and had not heard her native tongue since arriving at Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Several of the girls spoke to the woman in Spanish, and she opened her eyes in surprise. She was not able to speak, but she was tearful at hearing her native language. The girls then prayed the Our Father in Spanish for her and sang “Feliz Navidad.”

The visit to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home was one of several apostolic projects the Challenge Club participates in throughout the school year. The purpose of Challenge is to engage girls in meaningful service projects that will create a positive impact on family, friends and the world.

A fundraiser at St. Brigid Church has helped area veterans in need of wheelchairs.

Bill Curran, a member of the Knight of Columbus Council 13204, had an idea for a charitable fundraiser. He was able to collect four passes to a PGA tournament, which played in August at the Atlanta Athletic Club. The club is close to the Johns Creek parish.

Two sets of the passes, valued at more than $1,400, were set aside as door prizes for the dinner dance held last spring and the other two were to be raffled off with all proceeds going to the Columbian Charities wheelchair program.

The raffle raised $5,000 that was donated to Columbian Charities. Fifty wheelchairs were obtained with this contribution. The wheelchairs went primarily to the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Decatur, according to Dave Lemcoe, a member of Council 13204.

For the fifth consecutive year, the St. Pius X High School community worked with Dresden Elementary School to adopt families and share in the celebration of Christmas. The partnership is coordinated by the St. Pius X Mothers’ Club to help those in need have a memorable holiday season. Some 169 Dresden students from 57 families were helped.

Through the program, all of the children in the family receive gifts, including older or younger siblings who may not attend Dresden. The main focus is on articles of clothing. Each child, on average, receives two outfits, a coat, shoes, fleece blanket, a hygiene kit and several toys. Each family also receives a gift card for groceries. The youngest child this year is 3 months old and the oldest is 17.

“This project exemplifies the community of St. Pius X. It is not just giving of money and gifts; the SPX community comes together and gives from their hearts to help their less fortunate neighbors to brighten their holiday,” Debra Coheley said. Coheley is a club member and Dresden Partnership co-chair.

Twenty-six St. Pius X sports teams, clubs and fine arts groups participate, in addition to numerous SPX families, groups of students and corporate offices of SPX parents.

The Knights of Columbus Council 4599 of St. Joseph Church, Marietta, with volunteers from the St. Vincent de Paul Society hosted their annual Christmas Party for needy children.

Santa Claus was eagerly met by wide-eyed children.

The Knights of Columbus served hotdogs, soft drinks and cookies to the children and their families.