JACKSON – The social justice group of St. Aloysius School in Jackson has received the Monmouth-Ocean Foundation for Children Community Spirit Service Award.
Olive Taylor, who is the school’s public relations coordinator, said, “Our social justice group, under the guidance of teachers Kate Honan and Toni McEwan, was nominated for their work with the Angel Tree Foundation, an organization that helps children whose parents are in prison. The members of the social justice group sold wristbands embossed with the group’s motto ‘Strive for Justice.’ ”
The money that was raised from the sale of the wristbands was used to purchase holiday gifts for seven children, according to Taylor.
The hope of the St.Aloysius pupils was to connect parents in prison with their children so that the children could feel their parents’ love despite their physical absence, Taylor said.
“It was great being recognized by the Monmouth Ocean Foundation for Children for the Community SpiritAward, but what was even greater was the look on the faces of the children who were receiving the gifts. That was priceless,” Honan said.
Taylor said school administrators are also pleased that the social justice group has been working hard to raise money for Empower the Children, an organization based in Jackson that helps children in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India.
Empower the Children assists more than 500 children each year by providing daily nutritional lunches and creating educational and enrichment programs.
Students in the St. Aloysius social justice group understood that while they did not have enough money to help all the children in Kolkata, they each had the ability to help a child in need for the small sacrifice of 25 cents, she said.
With this in mind, the students organized a letter-writing campaign seeking help from local businesses. Their letters brought a response of more than $1,100 in donations.
Student representatives of the social justice group also spoke to their classmates and explained how each of them had the ability to make a difference. They asked their classmates to donate a portion of their snack money to help a starving child. In three weeks an additional $900 was raised for Empower the Children. St. Aloysius School educates children in prekindergarten through eighth grade.
On May 23, students from the social justice group presented Rosalie Giffoniello, the founder of Empower the Children, with a check for $2,013 the equivalent of more than 8,000 meals.
Giffoniello was overjoyed by the response from the community and the generosity of the students from St. Aloysius School.
The Rev. Scott Shaffer, pastor of St. Aloysius Church, said, “What our kids are doing comes straight from the Bible. They are following the Gospel mandate found in Matthew 25: For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger, and you welcomed me, naked, and you clothed me, ill, and you cared for me. I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Shaffer said, “I am so proud of all the hard work and creative ways in which our young people are using their time, talent and treasure to help others less fortunate.”
In other church activities, members of the St. Aloysius Fathers Club were on hand for the annual flower sale outside St. Aloysius Church on Mother’s Day. The club members sold hanging baskets, pots, planters and flats of flowers.
“It was a beautiful morning to be selling flowers,” club President Charlie Taylor said. “We enjoyed being a part of the Mother’s Day celebrations of so many families, and also providing a service for the parishioners of St. Aloysius.”
Money raised in the plant sale will go toward Fathers Club-supported initiatives in the school and parish of St. Aloysius. These initiatives include funding for class field trips, in-school programming for every grade, school improvement projects, and school-parish social events.