By Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Writer
More than 250 Sacred Heart Schools (SHS) employees started the new school year with service to the community.
Following Mass on Aug. 7 — the first day of the new school year for SHS faculty and staff — they spread out across the community to serve the needy at 13 locations.
A group of five of Sacred Heart Academy’s faculty and staff members along with Ursuline Sisters Judy Rice and Julia Davis visited the Catholic Enrichment Center (CEC) on West Broadway, where they learned about the center’s history and the programs it offers, said a statement from the CEC.
The educators also pitched in to fill 91 purses with toiletries for the “Blessings in a Purse Project” — a project started by St. Martin De Porres Church in 2016. The purses will be donated to women served by Volunteers of America and the Center for Women and Families.
Starting the school year with service in the community is a “new endeavor” for faculty and staff at SHA, said Amy Olson who is director of Mission Effectiveness at the school. Olson said part of the school’s core values is service.
She said they are “very excited” to share this experience with students and that they’re starting to discuss how to make the students a part of this service project in the future.
The “Blessings in a Purse Project” has been well received, said Janice Mulligan, associate director of the Office of Multicultural Ministry. More than 100 purses filled with toiletries were donated to needy women during the project’s first year, she said.
Because the project has done so well, three other parishes — Christ the King, Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Augustine churches — are considering it.
