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Dear St. Mary's Families,
Our students went home today with their "Box of Joy", one of our annual service projects. Boxes of Joy first arrived at St. Mary's in 2015 with Mrs. Kelly Letvinchuk and her PreK class' participation, and has grown tremendously over the years.
Project's Growth:
In that first year, 16 children were blessed to receive a box filled with joy. Since then this service project has been embraced by the entire school family with an average of close to 300 boxes filled each year. Three years ago we became a distribution site for other schools and parishes and last year alone, 1,152 Boxes of Joy were sent overseas from St. Mary's to deserving and grateful children.
About "Boxes of Joy":
Over the last few days our students have learned quite a bit about the project's importance and impact. A video was shown to our K - 8th Grade students after mass yesterday. Fr. Doyle's homily, which centered on how we can all become saints by loving others, was reiterated by Mrs. Letvinchuk during her "Boxes of Joy" presentation and Q & A session. Perhaps the most impressive site was the more than 300 assembled Boxes of Joy, ready to be filled by our families. When the stage curtains opened to reveal the collection, our students' reaction could be heard throughout the school!
Enthusiastic Response:
The enthusiasm for the project has been contagious. Special thanks to our 8th Graders who have mentored our 6th Graders, our new BOJ Ambassadors. Our 6th Graders have eagerly assumed this new role and have spent much time and energy to assemble, distribute and communicate information about the project with class by class presentations.
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS:
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