St. Andrew students' service projects benefit many

St. Andrew School

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Courtesy of St. Andrew School

RIVERTON — Because of the great spirit of service at Saint Andrew School, 220 stuffed animals were collected for a fourth-grade service project.

For the first three-quarters in this current school year, each student in Mrs. Dhondt’s fourth-grade class was asked to choose and complete their own service project. Patrick, one of the fourth-graders, chose to collect animals to donate to two organizations: Shriner’s Hospital for Children and Stuffed Animals for Emergencies (SAFE).

Shriner’s Hospital for Children specializes in caring for children with burns, spinal cord injuries, cleft lip and palates, and special orthopedic needs.

SAFE distributes donations to police, fire & rescue, ambulance services, children’s services, hospitals, Life Flight, and other emergency organizations. These items benefit children during emergency situations such as fire, illness, accidents, neglect, abuse, homelessness, and weather emergencies such as tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes.

The collection from the St. Andrew community included many gently loved characters as well as 75 brand-new stuffed bears and dogs from Build-A-Bear. These bears were acquired through the generous donations of Ultra Clean, Lisman Studios, Excellent Carpet Cleaning, and Jorge and Janette Issac.

These contributors were coordinated by a second-grader and her father. Dominika felt so strongly that children in the hospital should have a special friend to make their days brighter that she enlisted the aid of her father and his friends.

Both students delivered the animals to the hospital and were able to distribute them to children who were attending clinic sessions. The St. Andrew students toured the hospital and observed many ways that the hospital personnel help children in need.

Additional service projects completed by the fourth-graders included time spent helping neighbors; babysitting; making cards for hospitalized children and veterans; picking up trash; working for their parish; and collecting money and donations for hospitals, shelters, and marathons.

The St. Andrew School community is impressed and very proud of the fourth-graders for their tremendous effort in following Jesus’s example.