Grieving Students Bond Over Breakfast in Unique De Smet Program

What do you get when you combine a well-appointed breakfast buffet with a group of high school boys who have suffered through the loss of a loved one? You get what De Smet Jesuit High School calls "The Breakfast Club," a weekly support group for students.

The program began about nine years ago and was featured recently on HEC-TV's "Impact" series, which focuses on people and organizations making a difference in the community.

The video feature notes that the program is "a buffet that rivals most Sunday brunches and most importantly, (is) a safe place to talk about grief and loss and how to navigate the life ahead."

HEC-TV, the area's public interest/arts cable broadcaster, interviewed several students, including Evan Downey, who said "everyone has been through it and everyone is free to say what's on their mind."

Donna Noonan, founder of the program at De Smet said the inspiration for the idea came in that fall semester nine years ago when "we had three young men whose fathers had died unexpectedly." She proposed the program to the president at De Smet and noted, "anytime food is involved, we have their attention and their willingness to come back."

An information group at the school called Mothers for Others provides food for the meetings.

"There's just not eough support out there for people who are grieving," said parent Kate Treese. "I see that as an adult. I have friends who are afraid to talk to me about what's happened. If adult mature people are afraid, what must it be like for teenagers?"

Have you heard of the program? Been involved? Have you been involved in a similar program or have ideas about how this one operates?