St. Vincent parents and students' 'Community Day of Service?

Intermountain Catholic

+ Enlarge

On Jan. 21, Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic Elementary School partnered with the Utah Food Bank in a Community Day of Service. Families from the school volunteered together in two-hour shifts, sorting food and boxing it up for delivery.

Among the volunteers were 7th-grader Eric Heideman and his mother. "It was a good experience because we got to help people get food," he said.

Nathan Eardley, a 6th-grader at St. Vincent, also volunteered with his mom. "It was great! I was amazed how much food people donated," he said.

The school also provided the opportunity for people who weren’t able to make it to the Food Bank, or whose children were too young to fit the Food Bank’s volunteer age requirements, to decorate boxes that are used to take food to seniors and other homebound individuals. Families drew rainbows, animals, and even themselves, with wishes of "I hope you have a sunshine day!" In addition, families made cards for the Cathedral of the Madeleine’s Good Samaritan Program, to be put in the sack lunches of people who come daily for the sack lunches. These cards contained messages of prayers and blessings from the school families.

The school’s Faith Formation Committee, a subcommittee of the School Board, sponsored the event, said Monica Howa-Johnson, the committee chairperson. "It was wonderful to see our families come together to serve the community. Most families are willing to volunteer, but they don’t know where to go or what work to do. This Day of Service connected them to a wonderful program in our community. Many parents told me they would probably return to volunteer another day on their own."

All told, over 100 individuals from the St. Vincent’s School community were involved, volunteering 175 hours for the Utah Food Bank.

Story and photo courtesy of Saint Vincent de Paul School