As Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, young people throughout the Archdiocese of Louisville have been working hard — donating their time, collecting donations and shopping for hundreds of toys. Some have spent hours sorting, wrapping and delivering gifts to the most impoverished families in the community.
Following are some of the ways in which they have contributed to sharing Christmas cheer around the archdiocese:
- Eighth-graders at St. James School in Elizabethtown, Ky., filled 1,000 bags with food for the BackPack Program operated by Feeding America Kentucky’s Heartlands last month. The bags of food are distributed to schools in 42 counties in Kentucky and placed in the backpacks of needy students every Friday. This provision ensures the children will have food on weekends.
- Trinity High School students purchased, wrapped and delivered more than 140 Christmas gifts to 71 children who are served by the Community Catholic Center in the Portland neighborhood.
- Students and parents from St. Bernard, St. Raphael and St. Martha schools volunteered at the Dare to Care Food Bank sorting canned goods and other non-perishable items Nov. 25.
- Students from Sacred Heart Schools collected and donated more than 11,800 food items to Dare to Care.
- St. Leonard School presented the musical “Yes, Virginia The Musical” Dec. 14. Admission for children and students to the play was a canned good for Dare to Care Food Bank. The school collected 200 canned items. St. Leonard eighth-grade students make monthly visits to Dare to Care, where they help sort and prepare food for distribution. As part of its “Believe” campaign, Macy’s Department Store donated a dollar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for every letter written to Santa Claus by St. Leonard students. All 166 students at St. Leonard wrote a letter.
- Presentation Academy students collected more than 150 toys for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Santa Shop, which was held Dec. 13. Needy families were able to “shop” for Christmas toys and clothes.
- Students at St. Margaret Mary School took part in a “Band-Aid Raid.” They collected more than 2,300 boxes of the adhesive bandages for Supplies Over Seas, a local non-profit organization.
- Eighth-grade students at St. Dominic School in Springfield, Ky., delivered donations to the Sister Visitor Center on Dec. 9. Preschool to eighth-grade students collected the items as part of the school’s annual Christmas service project.
- Kindergarten students at St. Raphael School collected 100 blankets for the local non-profit Blanket Louisville. They also made Christmas cards to go along with the blankets.
Students at St. Raphael also collected nearly 200 pounds of candy, which was sent to residents at The Healing Place. - Students, parents and teachers at St. Agnes School took part in a “Walk for the Poor”on the school’s Newburg Road campus. The students collected nearly $4,000 to benefit the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul chapter.
- Each grade level at Holy Trinity School conducted a different project to help people in need this season. Among the projects were: Kindergarten and first-grade students made Christmas stockings for people experiencing homelessness; second-graders sent cards and gifts for soldiers and their families abroad, third-graders bought gifts for kids at St. Joseph Children’s Home; fourth-graders collected hygiene products for the Golden Arrow Center and sixth-graders collected and delivered Christmas gifts to refugees aided by Catholic Charities.
- Members of the National Honor Society and Beta Club organizations at DeSales High School filled, rolled and wrapped 300 burritos Dec. 16 for “Burrito Riders,” a non-profit organization that hand-delivers burritos by bicycle to homeless people.
- Students at Our Lady of Lourdes School regularly donate leftover food items from the school to St. Matthew’s Area Ministries’ food pantry. The project is called “Doing small things with great love,” a news release from the school said.
- Students at St. Albert the Great School collected baby items for the Little Way Pregnancy Resource Center.
- Members of the Assumption High School Beta Club stuffed stockings for children served by Uspiritus, which serves abused and neglected children. The students will also assist with Uspiritus’ Santa Shop today, Dec. 17.
- Students at St. Bernard School, accompanied by principal Fred Klausing, served lunch at the Franciscan Kitchen Dec. 16. St. Bernard seventh- and eighth-grade students volunteer at the soup kitchen monthly.
The students also donated cookies, which were added to care packages the soup kitchen gave to the poor and homeless. - Several members of St. Xavier High School’s wrestling team planned to host a Christmas party for children at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s Family Success Center today, Dec. 17. The students collected toys for 29 children and planned to play games and hand out presents to the children at the center.
- Each grade at St. Athanasius School participated in a variety of stewardship activities during the Advent season. Pre-kindergarten students collected Toys for Tots on Dec. 16. First-graders collected donations for the Ronald McDonald House. Third-graders collected books for Kosair Children’s Hospital. Fourth-graders donated blankets to Blanket Louisville. Fifth-graders and members of the school’s student council adopted families from the Angel Tree program. Seventh-graders participated in a food drive for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
- Sixth-grade students at St. Gabriel School collected 95 blankets for Blanket Louisville.
- Fifteen members of “Cougars for Christ” at Holy Cross High School collected money to buy food for “Love the Hungry,” a non-profit organization that provides nutritious meals for hungry children.
- First-graders at St. Andrew Academy collected mittens, gloves, scarves and canned goods for Pleasure Ridge Park’s fire department’s gift basket program.
- Students and staff from St. Stephen Martyr School shopped for toys for nearly 400 children of service members at Fort Campbell. Students also tutored refugees at Catholic Charities and traveled with Hand in Hand Ministries to Appalachia, where they repaired homes for needy residents.
