MIDDLETOWN — While Christmas shopping with classmates for some local families in need, Nichole Tallmadge learned how challenging it is to stay within your budget, especially when trying to make a child’s holiday wish come true.
Please click here for more photos
The seventh-grader at All Saints Academy wanted to purchase a pair of princess earrings for a 9-year-old girl on her list, but she found that her group just couldn’t stretch their modest budget enough to be able to make the purchase.
“They were so expensive, and I couldn’t get them,” she sighed.
Although she was disappointed, Tallmadge did manage to buy a toy for the girl, and other necessities for her family, one of three families the students are helping this year through the school’s Christmas Angels program.
In its seventh year, the service outreach program at the diocesan elementary and middle school now includes students in the sixth grade, along with those in the seventh and eighth grades. On the weekend following Thanksgiving, students volunteer to spend a Saturday at school baking apple pies, cookies, brownies, pumpkin and banana bread that are then sold after weekend Masses at nearby St. Lucy Parish. The proceeds are earmarked to help local families in need.
“The parishioners are always very good about supporting us,” said Ann Villareal, the English and religion teacher for the middle school grades who has facilitated the program since it began seven years ago.
This year, the Christmas Angels raised $600 through their efforts, and are using the proceeds to help three families, with a total of seven children.
“Seven children is a lot to shop for. They have to create a budget for all those children,” Villareal said.
Through their participation in the project, the students learn to live the Gospel message of caring for the less fortunate, making sacrifices of their own time as volunteers to help others.
From an educational standpoint, the students make connections to the world outside the classroom. They quickly learn how expensive such necessities as diapers for babies and clothing for teenagers can be, prompting them to budget wisely to ensure the needs of everyone on their list are met.
Villareal said the school connects with the parents to determine what the families need most. While shopping, the students must purchase items to help keep children warm during the winter, as well as something fun, such as a toy or game.
“They are angels to those kids who wouldn’t get to experience Christmas as many of them would,” Villareal said of the 31 students who volunteered for the program this year.
The school obtains general information about the anonymous families to shop for from St. Lucy parish, which works throughout the year with local social service agencies on Aquidneck Island to provide assistance to those in need.
“Their help is very valuable, we do have a need here,” Father John W. O’Brien, pastor of St. Lucy Parish, said of assistance provided by the students and staff at All Saints in helping to make Christmas a little brighter for some families. “They are very generous.”
The pastor said the parish’s Social Services coordinator, Colleen Earnshaw, works throughout the year with area agencies to provide support where needed. Earnshaw then provides the school with a list of families to assist.
Last Thursday, the students took a shopping trip to local stores to complete their annual Christmas shopping for the families. Returning to the school, the students gathered in a classroom to wrap the gifts.
“This is all they are going to get for Christmas. They don’t get to ask for much,” seventh-grader Andy Gutierrez shared as he trimmed the edges of one festively wrapped package.
Dolls, sporting equipment and athletic clothes were some of the many items the students wrapped with care, taking the time to ensure that even the bows they tied were perfect atop each gift.
Sixth-grader Sadie Asher said it felt good to be able to do something to help others in need.
Seventh-grader Caitlin Newman said it was a little daunting trying to shop for seven children among the three families, although they managed to get something nice for everyone on the list.
Liem Phan, who as an eighth-grader is participating for the last time as an angel, said it gave him a good feeling to know that their efforts would bring smiles to the faces of those children and families on Christmas morning.
“I’m glad because I know the families will be happy on Christmas,” he said.
Dr. John Finnegan, All Saints principal, was one of several staff members assisting the students in their efforts.
He said that the students’ efforts dovetailed well with the philosophy of Catholic schools, which promotes community service.
As she helped her classmates wrap a small mountain of presents, eighth-grader Madison Gillam reflected on what it must be like to be one of the children receiving gifts from people they don’t even know, and how much of an impact such a project can have on those in need.
“What if I was this kid getting gifts from a complete stranger?” Gillam said.
“It made me think ‘But by the grace of God go I.’ I’m seeing all the stuff and I’m thinking that more people should do this really.”
