LAFAYETTE — Bishop Douglas Deshotel of the Diocese of Lafayette and Holy Family Catholic School Principal Rogers Griffin pleaded with the public in Acadiana to invest in the Lafayette school during a news conference held Thursday.

Holy Family Catholic School is located in north Lafayette and has students that hail from as St. Martinville and Opelousas in addition to Lafayette, Griffin said at the event.

School and diocese leaders have been petitioning for investments from the local business community so that Holy Family could build a gymnasium for its students. The school is currently the only one in the diocese with no gymnasium, Griffin said.

“This is an economically disadvantaged part of the city, which is why we need help with this project,” Deshotel said at the event. “The school offers a pathway to further education as well as a pathway out of the cycle of poverty.”

Griffin said the absence of a gym has been problematic for the school. The school has formed friendships with groups like the Boys and Girls Clubs, who have offered their services for public facilities, but the solution is not a lasting one.

“It causes hardships for parents because they have to pick up their students and bring them to a public facility,” Griffin said. “We’re starting to lose middle school students because of this hardship.”

“With the new gymnasium we’re going to have one campus, one facility where they can remain throughout their athletic careers,” he added.

Holy Family Catholic School has been in operation since 1903, and was founded by the Sisters of the Holy Family. The school has a 95 percent Catholic population and still serves the original mission put out more than 100 years ago. Deshotel said many who graduate from the school end up at Teurlings Catholic or the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Students receive “an excellent education in the context of their faith” at the school, Deshotel said.

“Students learn of God’s plan for them in this life and God’s plan with them in eternity,” Deshotel said. “They are filled with a sense of social responsibility and how they can contribute.”

“I’m asking as many as possible to support this project however you can,” Deshotel added. “The new gymnasium will help for the school’s basketball league and four new classrooms will accommodate the middle school.”