Students at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School, Ashland, form a cross in the church, where the blankets from their Lenten service project are displayed for blessing. (Submitted photo)
This Lent, Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School, Ashland, focused on prayer, fasting and almsgiving through a community service project.
On Ash Wednesday, students and staff of OLL teamed up with the Catholic Order of Foresters #2506. After speaking to representatives of the Ashland New Day Advocacy Center, Mary Weaver, second-grade teacher, shared that people in the community were in need of new socks and warm blankets.
Teachers, parents and parishioners united in this almsgiving effort. Fleece material was found online. Students were asked to do chores to earn 10 cents per day to help defray the cost of the material.
Once the material arrived, hours were spent cutting fabric to get ready for the tying process. Staff worked with older students to teach them how to make the blankets. Older children then became mentors, assisting their younger Mass buddies in the making of blankets. Handmade blankets were also donated by Catholic Order of Forester members and other parishioners.
At the same time, students in preschool through eighth grade collected new socks for people of all ages. At the conclusion of the project, approximately 120 blankets had been made and donated along with three wicker baskets of socks. Students, staff and community members gathered at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church on March 18, where Fr. Jerome D’Souza blessed the gifts. He thanked the students and all involved for their acts of kindness.
This article, edited for space and content, was written by Karen Eaton, OLL speech-language pathologist and youth coordinator.
