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On December 1st, St. Francis Xavier School celebrated its 14th Annual Service Day in honor of our patron saint.
Our co-chairs, Julie Schaff and Dianne Riboul, chose the theme "We'll Make a Better Day" and we focused our minds on how to make a better day for someone else all week.
Many people wonder how we pull off a day like this, and it quite simply comes down to our incredible parent volunteers. We had nearly 200 parents help plan and execute the day -- thank you to each and every one of you! We would also like to acknowledge all of our partnering organizations, many of which have been with us from the program's inception. This program could not exist without their generous partnership. A list of where our students were called to serve can be found below.
PreS 3: Donated 32 sets of gloves, 11 sets of mittens, and 4 hats to the SFX Food Pantry.
Pre K 4: took a tour of the SFX food pantry and learned how it is currently serving approximately 130 families, representing about 400 individuals each week. While there they learned about the mission of the Pantry, thank you Mrs. Freeman for having us. During collections week PK4 gathered and bagged 50 bags of food and supplies for families in need. The classes also made ornaments and decorated two Christmas trees to donate to food pantry families!
Kindergarten: The Kindergarten class is learning about Caring for God’s Creation. We adopted a lion named Titus for the year. Friday, they brought carrots and apples to the Palos Children’s Farm and acted out a Nativity with real animals. They also sang Christmas carols and saw many of God’s creations.
1st Grade: went to Bethlehem Woods to meet with our Older Friends for snacks, bingo and caroling. We made and distributed 21 blankets to residents there, we sang 4 amazing Christmas Carols with the help of Ms. Loredo, played Bingo with 32 friends and made 33 Christmas cards!
2nd Grade: went to St. Catherine & St. Lucy Elementary School in Oak Park to do a joint Service Project with the students there and they together made 61 Christmas holiday ornaments to donate to The Mission of Our Lady of the Angels in the West Humboldt Park area of the City. During collections Week 2nd Grade collected 140 lbs of White Rice and 170 lbs of Pasta! All items were delivered to the Mission of Our Lady of Angels.
3rd Grade: Went to Marillac House, on the West Side where they found out about the organization & programs, they observed the programs and met with the Outreach Team. At Marillac, they sorted all of the donated items from collections week and brought these items across the street to the Outreach office. During Collections week 3rd grade collected for Marillac House: 65+ coats, 80 packages of paper towels ■ 60+ containers of deodorant ■ 15 $25 gift cards for the seniors
4th Grade & 7th grade both went to Feed My Starving Children and packed 198 boxes, they made 42,768 meals. The work they did will feed 117 children for a whole year at the cost of $12,403.00. They also collected quarters and donated $100 to Feed My Starving Children. 4th Graders also made 169 candy bags and Christmas cards to be distributed at the SFX Food Pantry. They sorted 979 hygiene products for the SFX Food Pantry.
5th Grade: went to American Legion where they made 100 care packages for the patients and Veterans at Hines VA Hospital. They also wrote 100 letters and made 50 paracord lanyards for Operation Gratitude.
6th Grade: went to Suburbanite Bowl and bowled with 47 SEASPAR friends. 136 games bowled, countless high fives and endless smiles!
7th Grade- (in addition to Feed My Starving Children) made 45 laundry bags for BEDS and 150 Christmas candy bags for the SFX food pantry clients.
8th Grade: - Went to two different locations, the Greater Chicago Food Depository and St. Mary Star of the Sea, Big Shoulders School on the Southwest side. At the Greater Chicago Food Depository they packed 320 cases of bell peppers or 8,000 lbs. of peppers. In total, 6,660 meals were made that came out to be 90 meals per volunteer. At St. Mary Star of the Sea our 8th graders worked with the students from pre-school through 4th grade and helped them with math, reading, played games, sang songs and created a special art project. They also helped make tie blankets to donate to Our Lady of Angels.
SERVICE DAY CHAIRS:
Julie Schaff , Dianne Riboul, and Mrs. Katie Filbin (Faculty Service Day Advisor)
SERVICE DAY LEADS:
8th grade leads – Colleen Olson & Amy Strayer
7th grade leads – Steph Janisewski & Eleanor O’Reilly
6th grade leads – Emily Bersnak & Amy Burgland
5th grade leads – Emily Czuba & Cathy Derus
4th Grade leads – Alicia Goode & Maria Liu
3rd Grade leads - Katie Lutzow & Meghan Favel
2nd Grade leads – Jennifer Graham & Monica Schmitt
1st Grade leads – Jill Parolin & Kerry Gamboa
Kindergarten – Kara Shanley, Carolyn Broughton, & Erin Johnson
Pre-K 4 – Annie Rysz & Joanna Ryan
Thank you to Mrs. Garcia, Mrs. Carr, Fr. Bill, Fr. Rich, dedicated SFX Faculty, and the entire SFX Staff for your support and encouragement of the Service Program here at St. Francis Xavier.
SERVICE DAY HONOR ROLL: Clare Pasquesi, Michelle Horrigan, Katie Adams, Bridget Weber, Melissa Burns, Katie McCarthy, Leonor Loredo, Alan Sterwalt, Antonio Franceschi, Ed Crofton, Dan Sullivan, Mary Freeman, Ashley Augustyniak, Peggy Evans & nearly 200 parents involved in planning and executing the day! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
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