By Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Writer
Students around the Archdiocese of Louisville have donated time to helping the neediest this Christmas season.
- Members of St. Gregory Church’s “Lend-A-Hand” adult’s group and students from St. Gregory School helped fill and distribute more than 500 boxes of food during the Feeding America food distribution Nov. 23 at the Nelson County Fairgrounds.
- Holy Trinity School’s kindergarten classes collected six dozen pairs of socks and filled them with toiletries and candy for homeless people served by St. Martin of Tours Church’s Schuhmann Center Dec. 9. A group of Holy Trinity eighth-graders also traveled to Appalachia with Hand-in-Hand Ministries where they repaired roofs for two families in need of help. The group also built a wheelchair ramp on one house and replaced windows on another.
- St. Agnes School fourth-grade students visited the Salvation Army Center for Hope, 911 S. Brook St., Nov. 29. The students toured the center and learned how the Salvation Army serves the homeless in the city and how the students can help. Inspired by what they learned, the students plan to collect toiletries for the homeless in January.
- St. Raphael School students collected 300 blankets for Blanket Louisville, a non-profit organization that provides blankets to the homeless and needy in Louisville. They also collected hats and scarves for refugees served by Catholic Charities Office for Refugee Ministry and hats and gloves for the homeless served by the Cathedral of the Assumption’s Sandefur Dining Hall.
- A group of students from St. Bernard School and members of St. Bernard Church’s youth group sorted food items Nov. 23 for Dare to Care.
- St. Nicholas Academy students shopped for clothing and toys for 24 needy children and families from St. Thomas More, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Sts. Simon and Jude and Most Blessed Sacrament churches. Students also delivered close to 2,000 non-perishable food items to the St. Thomas More food pantry Nov. 22.
- Students at Holy Angels Academy donated baby items to the Little Way Pregnancy Resource Center.
- The youth group at the Church of the Annunciation in Shelbyville, Ky., helped serve Thanksgiving dinner to about 65 people from the community during an event at the parish on Thanksgiving Day.
- High school students from Immaculata Classical Academy visited residents at the Little Sister’s of the Poor St. Joseph Home for the Aged on Dec. 2.
- St. Martha School raised more than $1,300 for Hope Scarves, a local non-profit organization that sends scarves to women around the country and around the world suffering from cancer. Students delivered the check on Dec. 7.
- Trinity High School students raised $14,000 for Dare to Care during a drive held Oct. 24 through Nov. 17.
- Assumption High School students wrote and sent Christmas cards to women who are served by the Healing Place.
The school’s freshman class prepared and donated lunch Nov. 21 and 22 to those served by the Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul.
A school wide collection raised more than $3,000, part of which was donated to the Catholic Charities’ Sister Visitor Center for school supplies. Members of the “Rockets Helping Others” Club tutored students at St. John Paul II Church’s Francis Center on Nov. 28. Members of the tennis team donated toiletries to the Little Sisters of the Poor Nov. 22. Members of the Future Business Leaders of America Club collected and distributed blankets at the Good Samaritan Nursing Home Dec. 14. - A group of Mercy Academy seniors visited Senator Mitch McConnell’s office Dec. 2 to discuss legislation related to funding refugee resettlement. The students also donated time at the Americana Community Center tutoring refugee students during the school year.
- Fifty-five members of St. Xavier High School’s lacrosse team took part in the Kiwanis Club of Louisville’s “Shop with a Child” program Dec. 11. The students shopped for Christmas presents with some of the 450 children served by Kiwanis, a non-profit organization whose mission is to respond to the needs of the community and to address issues in the community, according to the group’s website.
