Continuing Service During Advent
Each year during the season of Advent, Newton Country Day School students, faculty, and staff members participate in various service projects. Despite volunteer opportunity restrictions due to COVID-19, the NCDS community has found ways to continue to give back.
The Christmas Basket Service Project is a tradition that Upper School students look forward to each year. During Advent, advisory groups collect food, gift cards, and toys to donate to the Harbor Point community through Sister Joyce of Project Care and Concern. Girls have always enjoyed not only collecting items for a specific family in need, but also writing positive messages of hope in home-made Christmas cards.
This year, as a combined Middle and Upper School effort, students were invited to participate in a revised version of the project. Gifts cards of any denomination to Star Market, Stop & Shop, Target, or TJ Maxx were donated by Newton families ahead of our start of distance learning on November 30. In total, NCDS raised nearly $19,000 in gift cards for Project Care and Concern.
“I'm really amazed at the generosity of the families to continue the Christmas Basket Project under these different circumstances,” commented Director of Community Service Dr. Mark Potter.
A longstanding Advent tradition in the Middle School is teaming up with students from St. Sebastian’s to help families experience the love and joy of Christmas through St. Patrick’s Parish in Lawrence. For over 30 years, Middle School students have spent December collecting gifts for children and teenagers. NCDS 8th graders would then host an afternoon event with St. Sebastian’s 8th graders to organize the collected gifts and learn more about the community in Lawrence from Father Paul O’Brien. This year the Middle School is still participating in the “Spirit of Sharing” project, although it looks a little different.
An Amazon Christmas gift registry for the severely at-risk children and teens within Father Paul’s community was created and shared with NCDS and St. Sebastian’s. Students from both schools have the opportunity to send warm jackets, toys, and other gifts through the registry, gifts that Father Paul would typically deliver to children's homes by Christmas Eve.
In an email to Director of Middle School Students Diane Popeo, Father Paul wrote, “In the midst of these difficult times in Lawrence, Saint Patrick Parish continues to be a thriving community of faith. Each Sunday, more than 600 people turn out for outdoor worship. Each day, the Parish’s Cor Unum Meal Center serves hundreds of meals on a to-go basis. Your past Spirit of Sharing contributions have transformed the experience of Christmas for thousands of children here in Lawrence.”
The Christmas Basket Service Project is a tradition that Upper School students look forward to each year. During Advent, advisory groups collect food, gift cards, and toys to donate to the Harbor Point community through Sister Joyce of Project Care and Concern. Girls have always enjoyed not only collecting items for a specific family in need, but also writing positive messages of hope in home-made Christmas cards.
This year, as a combined Middle and Upper School effort, students were invited to participate in a revised version of the project. Gifts cards of any denomination to Star Market, Stop & Shop, Target, or TJ Maxx were donated by Newton families ahead of our start of distance learning on November 30. In total, NCDS raised nearly $19,000 in gift cards for Project Care and Concern.
“I'm really amazed at the generosity of the families to continue the Christmas Basket Project under these different circumstances,” commented Director of Community Service Dr. Mark Potter.
A longstanding Advent tradition in the Middle School is teaming up with students from St. Sebastian’s to help families experience the love and joy of Christmas through St. Patrick’s Parish in Lawrence. For over 30 years, Middle School students have spent December collecting gifts for children and teenagers. NCDS 8th graders would then host an afternoon event with St. Sebastian’s 8th graders to organize the collected gifts and learn more about the community in Lawrence from Father Paul O’Brien. This year the Middle School is still participating in the “Spirit of Sharing” project, although it looks a little different.An Amazon Christmas gift registry for the severely at-risk children and teens within Father Paul’s community was created and shared with NCDS and St. Sebastian’s. Students from both schools have the opportunity to send warm jackets, toys, and other gifts through the registry, gifts that Father Paul would typically deliver to children's homes by Christmas Eve.
In an email to Director of Middle School Students Diane Popeo, Father Paul wrote, “In the midst of these difficult times in Lawrence, Saint Patrick Parish continues to be a thriving community of faith. Each Sunday, more than 600 people turn out for outdoor worship. Each day, the Parish’s Cor Unum Meal Center serves hundreds of meals on a to-go basis. Your past Spirit of Sharing contributions have transformed the experience of Christmas for thousands of children here in Lawrence.”