Sacred Heart Greenwich’s Community Service Club is spreading Christmas spirit through service this December as they partner with local organizations to make a difference during the holiday season.
This past weekend Sacred Heart Greenwich hosted the Saturdays at Sacred Heart Christmas Party. Between one and four in the afternoon, Upper School Theology Teacher and Director of Upper School Justice and Service Mrs. Kerry Bader and a group of Upper School student volunteers organized and conducted the service event for the Saturdays At Sacred Heart (SASH) program.
Director of Summer Outreach Programs Mrs. Lisa Lyons-Young leads the SASH Program which targets Lower and Middle School students from low-income families living in Fairfield, Stamford, and Port Chester. Participants engage in activities including swimming, playing, and coloring, for approximately 20 Saturday afternoons between October and May.
During the Saturdays at Sacred Heart Christmas Party, Upper School students took photos of SASH and Lower School students before the younger students created self-decorated pictures frames. In addition to these arts and crafts, SASH students decorated cupcakes and cookies, watched a Christmas movie, sang Christmas carols, and made cards for veterans.
This event allows students from the SASH and Sacred Heart community to interact and enjoy the holiday season.
In addition to the Saturdays at Sacred Heart Party, the Upper School Community Service Club also partners with the Carver Center. The Carver Center Christmas gift drive is a two-decade tradition that provides the Sacred Heart community with the opportunity to support the Carver Center’s Head Start program.
The Carver Center offers a wide range of services for children, teenagers, senior citizens, and families living in Port Chester, New York. According to carvercenter.org, the Carver Center serves more than 1,300 Port Chester residents each month through their local food pantry. The Head Start Program specifically targets preschool aged children in the community according to cc.rcsnc.org.
During the Christmas gift drive, each Upper School advisory group will donate toys, hats, scarves, and gloves, and decorate a gift bag. Santa will distribute these gifts to the children at a Christmas event held at Sacred Heart December 16.
“We hope that Sacred Heart students realize how important it is to recognize the needs of other and respond to those needs,” Mrs. Bader said.
In addition, the Community Service Club will organize an opportunity for Upper and Lower School students to create cards for the retired members of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (RSCJ), the religious order who originally founded Sacred Heart Greenwich. This activity is an annual Christmas tradition.
“This allows the nuns to know that their dedication to the mission of St. Madeleine Sophie is not forgotten and is appreciated by current students,” Mrs. Bader said.
The Community Service Club’s initiatives demonstrate student commitment to the Society of the Sacred Heart’s Goal Three, “a social awareness which impels to action.”
“We think it is important for our girls to give back throughout the year. However, Advent presents a unique opportunity to think of others as we prepare for the birth of Christ,” Mrs. Bader said.
– Elisabeth Hall News and Photo Editor
Tanja Ellis • Dec 8, 2016 at 2:46 pm
Wonderful! Just what the Christmas spirit is about! Thank you Elisabeth for sharing!!
This is the time of giving back and your article reminds us of that.