St. A’s collected 40 bags of food to help local families enjoy Thanksgiving.
By: Melissa Morgan
An abundance of brown paper bags resembling giant lunches, all brimming with everything from canned goods to Cocoa Puffs, filled the back of Catherine Maroon’s eighth-grade classroom on Friday morning.
Her students ruffled through them, checking out the bags containing the most appealing meals and snacks.
"This stuff is the best. It’s so good," said one excited eighth-grader holding up a box of Velveeta shells and cheese.
These St. Augustine of Canterbury students weren’t preparing to chow down on the ultimate school lunch. Instead, they were boasting about the goodies they donated to help the less fortunate enjoy a tasty Thanksgiving holiday.
As part of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of St. A’s school, the eighth-grade classes helped collect and sorted 40 bags of food they then brought to the St. Vincent de Paul Society food pantry, located at St. A’s R.C. Church. The food pantry will distribute the food to needy families around town just in time for Thanksgiving.
"There are a lot of people out there who don’t have the gifts the school has, so we are giving back," said eighth-grader Michael Giacino. "It helps people who are less fortunate to celebrate Thanksgiving."
To make the donations more meaningful, the students looked through the Bible to find passages dealing with giving or thanks and attached a different message to each bag.
"The Bible is full of good stuff. We just had to pick the right ones," said Michael.
Ms. Maroon said the project was appropriate because it tied into bothThanksgiving and the 40th anniversary celebration. Eighth-graders, along with the entire school community, began collecting non-perishable items in the beginning of November in order to reach the 40-bag goal. Most students said reaching the goal, and even exceeding it, wasn’t hard at all.
"Our school is very generous," said Michael. Eighth-grade teacher Donna Haggerty said a lot of the success of St. A’s over the past 40 years can be attributed to the support of the community.
"This project represents what has been given to us over the last 40 years," she said. "It’s our way to give back to the community what has been given to the school."
"It shows what we can do for the community, not what the community can do for us," agreed eighth-grader Noel Magsino.
Ms. Haggerty said she will consider doing the collection every year, and she hopes the project will help set the path for a life-long commitment to community service for her students.
"It helps them realize all that they do have, which they sometimes take for granted," she said. "It lets them see there are people right in this community that need help."