Queens Catholic schools helping Santa

Students are helping Santa get presents to a group of underprivileged children across Brooklyn and Queens.
The Sponsor-a-Family program at St. John’s Bread and Life Program, Brooklyn’s largest soup kitchen, has recruited eight Catholic schools in Queens to help gather and donate more than 4,500 gifts to the poor this holiday season.
Students at Our Lady of Grace School, a K-8 in Howard Beach, volunteered to collect gifts for fourteen-year-old girls. After a push from the school’s student council, parents and their children donated more than 100 presents, including lip-gloss and nail polish.
“It’s very valuable for our students to know that these are for kids that live in our city, that need exists in our city too,” said Principal Barbara Kavanagh. “I believe one thing you get out of a Catholic education is that you give back.”
Holy Cross High School, an all-boys school in Flushing with a strong emphasis on sports, collected two dozen cartons of basketballs, soccer balls, and electronic games for 11- and 12-year-old boys. The school has been a generous supporter of Bread and Life for more than twenty years.
“St. John’s Bread and Life is grateful for the support the Catholic schools are providing,” said Anthony Butler, the organization’s director. “Christmas is a time to pull together as a community to ensure that all families enjoy a happy holiday, regardless of their economic status. We thank the children, teachers and parents for their donations and for their time and effort.”
Bread and Life serves more than one thousand meals a day at their Bedford-Stuyvesant location. Its mobile soup kitchen, a converted RV, offers hot meals and social services throughout Brooklyn and Queens. This is their tenth year organizing the Sponsor-a-Family program.
Forest Hills’ Our Lady of Mercy, collecting for eight- to nine-year-old boys, set up donation boxes in each classroom. The class that collects the most gifts will win a pizza party.
“Being a part of this holiday drive promotes the important Christmas lesson of giving,” Principal Linda Dougherty said. “As much as any child enjoys receiving presents, our students are equally happy to give these toys away because they know they will be bringing joy into the homes of the less fortunate.”
Other Queens schools participating in the program are Jamaica’s Mary Louis Academy for Girls, New Hyde Park’s Notre Dame, Flushing’s Holy Cross, Springfield Gardens’ St. Luke’s, and Whitestone’s St. Mel’s.