8th Grade Service Hours
8th Grade Service Hours
August 14, 2020
Dear Parents/Guardians,
As most of you are aware, our 8th grade students normally complete a series of service hours since Fr. Pat requires all graduating students to reach out into our community in some fashion. This year, due to the extenuating circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are only requiring a total of 10 service hours. This will serve to satisfy the graduation and confirmation requirements.
The following description of the works of mercy is from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God.
In keeping with that description, the goal for our students this year is to “think outside the box” and create an interpretation of the works of mercy that is relevant in our world today. Service hours are to be completed and the tracker turned in to Mrs. Powers by January 8th, 2021. Please document your service project through photos and/or videos, since these will be used for a religion class presentation during the “Works of Mercy” unit.
Suggested activities –
Fill a shopping bag with basic groceries and deliver it to Brother’s Keeper, including food items such as peanut butter, jelly, pasta, canned or packed tuna, spaghetti sauce, healthy cereal, canned meals such as beef stew or soups. NOTE: Please do not being items that are packaged in glass.
Clean out closets and donate clothing items that are in good condition.
Establish a pen pal at a nursing home or elder care – sending them a comforting and encouraging message every few weeks.(This can be coordinated with Elder Care, so it is a more personal and meaningful act.)
Make a batch of bagged lunches – peanut butter sandwiches – placing them in brown paper bags, each with an apple and a water bottle. Deliver the lunch bags to the Soup Kitchen.
Create positive and encouraging messages for our First Responders and deliver them to a fire or police station.
Tutor a younger child, assisting with homework or challenging academic material.
Collect toiletries, such as soap and small bottles of shampoo, and deliver them to Brother’s Keeper.
Please have your child track the time they have invested in these works of mercy by using the attached “Service Hour Tracker”.
If they are delivering items, they can ask the person accepting the delivery to sign their form. If it is another situation, then whomever is supervising the activity can sign the form.
To coordinate delivery of items, we are providing the phone numbers for BT affiliated charitable entities below:
Soup Kitchen: 789-8139
Brother’s Keeper/Thrift Store: 622-5544.
Elder Care: 671-2823
Thank you for all you do for our Church, school, and community.
Sincerely,
8th grade Team