Day 44: Good Stuff Campaign

Hi! It's Olivia.

Today, Mom, Dad, and Sophia came to pick up my belongings from Loyola. As I was packing this morning, I realized I had extra unopened food, and some clothes that I knew I didn't wear anymore. Downstairs on the first floor of my dorm building are donation boxes for the "Good Stuff Campaign". This campaign donates gently used clothing, unperishable food, small appliances, etc. to those who are less fortunate. I decided that I should give some of my stuff away, knowing I won't use them in the future, and I'd be helping those in need. The boxes already had a lot of items in them, so it felt good to know I was contributing to a cause others care about as well.

Here is the website from Loyola about the campaign: http://www.loyola.edu/ccsj/goodstuff/

Day 43: Book Drive at UPenn

Hi everyone, this is Bianca. As a last act of service while my freshman year comes to and end, the class of 2013 is hosting a book drive. Students can choose to donate their textbooks, which will be resold by the organization, rather that sell them back to the bookstore for cash themselves.  The chosen cause for this semester's book drive is the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. The IFHF is a non profit organization that provides support for veterans and the families of those who have lost a loved one in a war. Though this fund most commonly gives monetary support to dependent families, it also provides funding for rehab centers for soldiers. The IFHF is an incredible organization that I have never heard of prior to this book drive. I donated two text books to the cause, and hopefully other students will contribute as well to aid the war veterans and heroes of our country.  http://www.fallenheroes.org/

 

Day 42: Desserts for the Sherborn Council on Aging

A picture's worth a thousand words... and even more calories!! 

I'm told that the Sherborn seniors attending the weekly Drop In Luncheon aren't sick of my desserts yet ......so I guess I'll keep baking for them!

Patricia

Day 41: Sponsoring Claudia

The days fly by and once again, it's time to send our monthly sponsorship support to Claudia in Mexico. While Sophia is patiently awaiting another letter from her "Spanish Sister", we are sharing a past letter to see how well Bianca and Olivia remember all the Spanish they have learned!!  Claudia really is a special little girl who we all hope to meet someday.

   http://www.hopeforafamily.org/

Day 40: Volunteering for Kindergarten PE Class

Hello, it is Sophia. Today was the day that instead of going outside to play for recess, I helped my gym teacher with his roudy kindergarten class. The kids are so cute and I think they really look up to me. Today after running our laps and doing our relay races, we played with hula-hoops. For 2 minutes we played freely with them (some kids spun them around and when the spinning died down they would try to jump inside the hula-hoop and then jump out again).   After the 2 minutes were up, we played "bus driver". The kids held the hula-hoop like it was a steering wheel and when Mr. Carnes said to "Put on the breaks!", they pretended to press on the break with their foot. When Mr. Carnes said, "Rain storm!" the kids put their hula-hoops above their head, dropped them around their bodies and then waved their arms like wind-shield-wipers. It was a very fun day at gym. It was almost as fun as going out to recess on this beautiful day!!!

Day 39: Money Counters

St. Jude Parish has 2 groups of ladies who count the Sat/Sun. collections every other month. Monday is the day we count and today started my group's month. We usually have 5 or 6 show up but today there were only 2 of us! And to add to the work, there were 2 collections!! Betty and I got going right away and were moving along quickly, when the secretary came to our rescue and helped us do the second collection (for the tornado victims.) It is quite interesting to see how many different ways money can be folded! What a challenge it is to have to take the time to unfold the different" designs"--accordion pleated, those folded up like the American Flag given to a deceased veterans family, kites, and those that are just "crumbled up". Papers must be filled out for the church office and everything must be counted twice and balance before the deposit slip for the bank is done. We get more dirty old bills than clean crisp ones. You can't imagine all the different varieties and colors of checks! It usually takes about 2 hours when everyone is on board, but today it took nearly 3. One person has to take deposit to the local bank, put in outside deposit box and return the key to the rectory. Quite a job when you put it all together!! Some of us have been doing this for nearly 20 years and are happy to be a "volunteer."

Day 38: Special Olympics Qualifying Meet

Today was a huge qualifying meet for the major Special Olympics event coming up in June.  It took place at Agganis Arena at Boston University.  Since I started coaching this team, everyone was talking about this meet, and now I know why.  Although not as significant as the "Olympics" next month, this was a pretty big deal.  I could tell that the athletes sensed the significance of this meet, because virtually all of them performed at their best.  There was, as always, some confusion at first, but things got smoother as the meet progressed.    The last race of the day was the most challenging.  Relays take the athletes out of the pattern that was established earlier in the day.  Sometimes they freeze on the block because there is no starting horn, sometimes they leave way too early out of confusion or excitement, and sometimes they keep swimming after their leg.  It causes some amusing scenarios.  However, today my 4 x 50yd freestyle relay team went off without a hitch; each swimmer performed at their highest ability.  I was very proud of them.  Having been at this meet, I have a better idea of what to work on in practice, so I am learning a lot along the way.  Congrats to all the atheletes!