HALEDON It is never too early to start thinking about Christmas. This especially holds true for the students at Mary Help of Christians Academy here who are already spreading Christmas cheer to needy children in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
Across the nation, the Box of Joy program is taking place in Catholic schools and parishes and among ministries. It is organized by Cross Catholic Outreach, a non-profit relief and development organization to aid the poorest of the poor in developing nations. This is the all-girls school second year participating in Box of Joy and they hope to repeat giving gifts to 300 children. The box that goes to each individual child is about the size of a shoebox and it is filled with small toys, school supplies, hygiene products, clothes and accessories. The students also create Christmas cards with a special note from them to the gift recipient.
The students will be packing the boxes on Nov. 8 and will be collecting donations up until Nov. 10 to create boxes that come in at the last minute. The items must be able to fit into a shoebox-sized box.
Salesian Sister Brittany Harrison, campus minister at Mary Help, said, “The students loved doing this last year. We put on Christmas music to get into the spirit and it is just a really positive and fun event.”
Because of the overwhelming response last year and the positive impact it had on the student body, Mary Help decided to do this again. Sorting through gifts, they put together the boxes based on age and if the gift recipient is a boy or a girl.
Sister Harrison said, “Our students loved preparing a gift that would go to a specific child in need, enclosing a card that they made and, packing it in the big shipping boxes. Box of Joy is a way to make the idea of solidarity with those in need very concrete. The students asked us to do this project again this year and we are trying to expand and invite other schools and groups to participate with us by using us as their drop-off site for completed boxes or donations of items for the boxes that we can pack for them.”
The boxes with gifts will be heading to four countries — two island nations in the Caribbean and two located in Central America — and will be given to children who lack the basic necessities of life. According to Cross Catholic Outreach, their families would never be able to provide even one simple Christmas present because the children come from families who are considered the poorest of the poor. This year, a special focus will be given to children who were affected by the hurricanes and tropical storms that hit the Caribbean this summer.
Once the boxes are packed at Mary Help, they will be sent to the Cross Catholic Outreach headquarters in Florida. Once in Florida, they are sent via a cargo ship to the intended countries. Those interested in helping are also asked to include a $9 check to send the boxes.
Mary Help of Christians Academy gets involved year-round serving others. During Catholic Schools Week, they reach out to immigrants through First Friends of N.J. and N.Y., a non-profit organization which promotes compassion and hope through volunteer visitation, resettlement assistance and advocacy. They also help diocesan Catholic Charities through its Father English Center in Paterson.
“The Box of Joy project gives the students a very real experience of service as they collect and prepare the gift boxes,” Sister Harrison said. “The students really take ownership in serving the poor.”
[Information: maryhelp.org.]