Sr. Larraine explains the Water With Blessings Program to visiting teachers from Sacred Heart Academy and Sacred Heart Preschool in Louisville, Kentucky.
The teachers learned how the Water With Blessings team ships filters to Water Women all over the world.
Teachers watched a video as part of the day's learning and sharing.
Water With Blessings Service Learning Helps Students Change Lives

More than merely filling a school requirement, service hours can be a means of opening up the world and its many opportunities to do good for others. Water With Blessings provides teachers from many different academic areas the chance to show their students that clean water is not always available in many parts of the world.

And the students learn that they can do something about it.

“We always wanted to show the importance of not just doing service to get hours for the requirement,” said Renee Schultz, who worked as a high school campus minister before becoming Water With Blessings’ Youth Program Coordinator. “We want to develop a deeper understanding of the challenge, build the relationship level with the particular challenge or need.

“When we went on mission trips, at the end of the day, no matter how tired we were, we gathered together and talked to the students about their experience: What did you see? What did you learn? I think that part’s crucial.”

Renee is working with several schools that will participate this year with Water With Blessings in their classrooms, and many more are considering how they can fit it into their curriculum.

Recently, ten teachers from Sacred Heart Academy and Sacred Heart Preschool took time away from their very busy preparations for the new school year and spent a day in the Water With Blessings office.
“It was a day of service,” Renee said. “But instead of labor, it was a day of learning for all of us. First we demonstrated how the filter works and how it’s used in different parts of the world. Then we spoke to them about how the Water With Blessings Service Learning Program works, and they brainstormed with us about how they could use it in their classrooms. It really helped us refine the model.”
Why We Support Water With Blessings

Marie Griffin, Spanish Teacher
Sacred Heart Academy
Louisville, Kentucky

(Marie is on the left; her fellow teacher, and former student,
Rachael Walters is on the right.)
Marie Griffin, who teaches Spanish at Sacred Heart Academy, was one of those who spent the day in the office. It wasn’t her first Water With Blessings experience.

“In 2017 I went to Peru with another teacher, Rachael Walters, to prepare for a student trip in 2018,” Marie said. “I was asked to take water filters to the Ursuline Sisters we would be staying with in Callao, just outside of Lima. So we had this huge bag of filters we took with us.

“Later, my junior-level Spanish class had a unit on the need for water and the ‘Water Wars’ in Bolivia. I asked Sr. Larraine to come speak to my class in Spanish, then with the Spanish Club. She talked in very personal terms about why the need for clean water is so important, and the difference it makes in the lives of the poor. The students were really struck by how things are so different from what they are here, how blessed we are. And they were blown away by how one simple filter was able to clean the water and save lives.”

Marie also sees deeper lessons for her students.

“Sr. Larraine said that ‘God has put wise women all over the world’ and they are saving lives in their communities,” she said. “As an educator at an all-girls Catholic school, we try to talk about empowerment and leadership. I believe it really resonates with them when they hear about other young women making a sacred promise and taking responsibility for providing life-saving clean water for three other families.

“That’s the mission of Water With Blessings: empowering women. I think it is admirable, and definitely an organization to support.”
Sr. Larraine Lauter spoke in 2018 to Marie Griffin's students at Louisville's Sacred Heart Academy.
Interested in learning more about Water With Blessings' Service Learning Program?

If you would like to bring this wonderful new cross-discipline program into your school, please contact our Youth Program Coordinator Renee Schultz at: renee@waterwithblessings.org

Please share this newsletter with your educator friends who may be interested. We can all work together to bring clean water to God's thirsty children all around the world.
Hear More About Service Learning On This Week's Coffee Chat

Sr. Larraine and others will provide more information about this exciting program on this week's Coffee Chat.

So grab your favorite beverage, log in, and join us this Friday at Noon eastern time. We look forward to seeing you.
Please Join Us For A Delicious Dinner, and the Chance To Provide Clean Water to God's Thirsty Children
August 12 (Thursday)
Texas Roadhouse Fundraiser

5005 Shelbyville Road
Louisville, Kentucky

Join us to raise money for God's Thirsty Children. 10% of your bill will go to Water With Blessings. Invite friends and family to come and make sure you mention Water with Blessings to your waiter/waitress.
You've waited this long for The Monarchs,
surely you can wait just a little while longer...
Well, it figures doesn't it? We had a celebration planned after all the months of not being able to gather together, and the Delta variant comes along and spoils the party before we even had a chance to get started.

The wonderful Knights of Columbus, who are sponsoring the evening, have decided to err on the side of caution and concern for everyone, and we agree with them that we should wait until we can gather with full confidence that we can sit, talk, and dance together without any worry.

So we are only postponing, not cancelling -- this event will be rescheduled as soon as possible.

To all of you who have purchased tickets: hold on tight to them. They will be honored for the re-scheduled event.

To those who would like a refund: please contact our office (502-749-5492) and ask for Debbie Robson, who will help you get your money back. If you would like, you can email her at debbie@waterwithblessings.org

We're as upset as everyone else. Please keep watching here on the newsletter and on our social media. We will let you know as soon as we have a new date.
Place Your Order For Friday Morning's
CinnaBourbon Hugs

Enjoy the best cinnamon rolls in Louisville, with a portion of the proceeds going to Water With Blessings. Already, a handful of new Water Women have been funded through the sales.

Made with real butter, aged bourbon, delicious cinnamon (and a few secret ingredients), these rolls will become a favorite in your home or office. Hope you can stop by to try them!
 
Warm, gooey cinnamon rolls, made by Captain’s Cabin in Louisville, will be available for pick up every Friday
from 8am-9:30am at the Water With Blessings office.

Please order before noon on Thursday. You can click on the button nearby to make sure you can take home your favorite flavor: original, pecan, or bacon.
CinnaBourbon Hugs are delicious, and the sweetest way to support WWB.
We believe every child should be drinking clean water. Are you with us?
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