Community Service

St. Mary School students participate in a variety of community service activities.    Children experience the pleasure of helping those less fortunate and learn that their good deeds not only benefit those that they are helping but also prove to be rewarding and bring them closer to God.  Listed below are only a few examples.

·       Wagons Ho

Wagons Ho is an annual food drive.  Children from each grade are asked to bring in specific non-perishable food items for a Thanksgiving dinner, such as stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, corn, etc.   One wagon per class is filled with their food items.

At the end of this event, the wagons are wheeled to St. Mary’s Church.  Parent volunteers pack vans with the donations and deliver them to St. Vincent dePaul.

·       No bull; students give a cow –

          As reported in The Providence Visitor…

PANCAKE BREAKFAST - St. Mary School , Cranston , middle-school students served a pancake breakfast to their fellow classmates as part of a fund raiser to purchase a cow which was donated to a needy Third World country family through Heifer International. Preparing to serve the breakfast are members of the St. Mary's Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society and their science teacher Sandra Rudden. Pictured (l-r) are: Michelle LoPresti, Amanda Palombo, Rudden, Mariah Conte (dressed as a Heifer cow in honor of the event), Alexa Brynes, Michelle Carmarde and Victoria Vessella. (Photo courtesy of St. Mary School )

  CRANSTON - Students in Grades 6-8 at St. Mary School came up with a unique Christmas gift this year: they raised funds to purchase a cow for a family living in a Third World country in an underdeveloped part of the world.
Working with Heifer International and with the guidance of their science teacher Sandra Rudden, beginning in November, the middle-school students began donating their ice cream money, taking part in a pancake breakfast and encouraging their friends to donate to the worthy cause, raising a total of $500 by the project's end.
Heifer International, an organization that has been in existence since 1944 and has a mission of helping to eliminate hunger and poverty and caring for the earth, has assisted millions of families in 128 countries by providing them with livestock to sustain them, make them self-reliant and give them hope. All families who benefit from the program must agree to be part of an educational series designed to ensure the health of the animal through proper feeding and care. In addition, the family agrees to donate the first-born offspring of the animal to another family in need.
Visit the Web site www.heifer.org for more information and to view its unique gift catalog which offers a variety of livestock donations at various full- or partial-costs, including a heifer, sheep, llama, water buffalo, goat, flocks of chicks, ducks or geese, honeybees, pig and trio of rabbits.
Barbara A. Costa, principal of St. Mary School , said, "This type of project appeals to the students because they are working toward a definite goal" - in this case, they selected a cow as their gift. "They can envision the usefulness of their gift."
Costa added that the fact that their gift could actually increase in value by ultimately benefiting a whole community particularly appealed to the students.
The Heifer Web site explains that a single Heifer cow can deliver up to four gallons of protein-packed milk every day to a hungry family changing their lives.
"Income earned by selling surplus milk pays for tuition as well as medicine, clothing and better housing," according to the Web site.
"Because a healthy cow can have a calf every year, your gift could eventually help an entire community move from poverty to self-reliance."

·       Keep the Heat on

Students donate $1 for a “dress down” day.  Funds raised on this particular day are donated to “Keep the Heat On.  Fr. Carusi matched $150 for a total of $300 to Keep the Heat On.

·       The Giving Tree

Each December, a Christmas tree is located in the school foyer.  This tree is decorated with ornaments that have items to be collected printed on them.  The items are usually monetary denominations for gift cards to local supermarkets or general merchandise retail stores.

·       Christmas Caroling

Students bring canned goods to the school where they congregate before bringing cheer to the neighbors of St. Mary School by Christmas caroling.  Canned goods are later donated to St. Vincent dePaul Food Pantry.

·       Soup and Slipper Day

Children bring in a can of soup and may wear their slippers to school.  Soup is then donated to St. Vincent dePaul Food Pantry.