By Jessica Easthope
Students and staff from several Catholic academies in the Diocese of Brooklyn came together to prepare holiday bags for families facing hardship.
“We want to make sure that those families know we care about them. Please make sure we put Christmas cards in each and every bag,” said Agnes Mosejczuk, principal of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Academy.
“The things that we put in these bags were soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste…” said Melissa Chay, an eighth-grader at St. Bartholomew Catholic Academy.
“Blanket, coffee, hot chocolate. It’s for what they need,” said Max Borja of St. Leo Catholic Academy.
“There’s some people who can’t afford to, like, get stuff like this that are like the basic needs,” Chay said.
“Our kids today are like Santa checking lists and checking them twice. We have the donations here, everyone was so generous. We want to just make sure that no one goes without this season,” said Diane Gorman, principal of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Academy.
“So we founded this project several years ago and we’ve been adopting families each Christmas,” Mosejczuk said. “Sister Ann Marie, a Grey Nun sister, told us that the need is much greater this year and we reached out to other schools, to St Leo’s or St Bart’s, Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Fatima to collaborate with us. And I’m so grateful to those schools for saying yes. They’re families within our community so for them to give back, it means a lot,” she said.
“I see many people myself, like who are in need. They just, they live in poverty and this is just a chance to give back to the community,” said Nicholas Reyes, an eighth-grader at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Academy.
“People deserve a chance to have everything that they need to survive, you know?” said Saba Usman, an eighth-grader at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Academy.
“Some people don’t have the stuff that we have. And I’m really grateful for what I have, especially in my Catholic school,” said Thiago Valdiviezo-Doychev, an eighth-grader at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Academy.”
Some families live in shelters. This may be the only Christmas tree they might have this Christmas. So yes, it is important for me to make it perfect for them. I think it teaches the kids the importance of appreciating little things in life,” Mosejczuk said.
“We reached over 150 hearts today. You know, that’s what Christmas is about. It’s not about receiving. It’s about giving,” Valdiviezo-Doychev said.
“On Saturday morning, we will be ready to go and distribute 150 bags to families in need. It’s all about service. It makes us who we are,” Gorman said.