Spring 2012: The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Pasta for Pennies drive was incredible! We raised $4311.00 during Lent for cancer research for children's cancers. This was a phenomenal response. Mrs Gach's third grade earned the pasta dinner from Olive Garden since they brought in the largest amount. Congratulations to the third grade. First grade was second and 5th grade was in third place. We are grateful to all who so generously contributed.
May 2012: The final drive for the year is a collection of high protein non-perishable foods for children in our local community whose nutrition is lacking in protein. Please bring in your canned beans, tuna or other fish as well as chicken and other meats and peanut butter.
We are also conducting our annual children's book collection to be donated to children who do not have recreational reading at home during the summer. These are used books, ones your children have outgrown and you no longer need.
We at OLM are most grateful to all parents and students who have been so generous all year! Mercy families certainly have heart and teach their children to share their gifts with the less fortunate.. Thank you!
February 2012: You should be very proud to learn that we have already sent 7 large boxes of stuffed animals to soldiers in Afghanistan for them to give to children there. We also were able to donate some of the ones too large to ship to the WinstonSalem Police Department and to Kernersville Police Department.
We are kicking off our big Pasta for Pennies drive. Be generous to your homeroom and your class may be the one treated to Olive Garden lunch!
January 2012: Animals for Afghanistan: This month we are collecting gently used stuffed animals in earnest. These furry little critters will be sent to our contact in Afghanistan in the US military there. The soldiers are able to use the stuffed animals to befriend the children there and earn their trust. There are many cases where the animal kept the soldier safe since he or she had been able to make friends with a child. The animals will be sent off at the end of January. Thanks so much to all who have contributed so far. At latest count we already had 262 of the cute little critters.
Be watching the MercyGram for more information on the Pasta for Pennies program which we officially kick off on Ash Wednesday.
December 2011: Thank you to all who participated in our Christmas gifts for SCAN. When all gifts were finally collected and delivered to SCAN, we had donated over 155 new wrapped gifts! With all the many ways our students and families are reaching out to those in need, this was a phenomenally generous donation.
Students in grades 4-8 donated a morning to the Ronald McDonald House assembling luminary kits. This is a fun activity each year. We are always reminded before we start working that the sale of the luminary kits during the Christmas season provides a huge fund raiser for the Ronald McDonald House. This year alone our students assembled thousands of kits which, when sold for $7 each, will equate to a donation we can be very proud of!
Students in grades Pre-K-3 baked cookies which were donated to the Hospice Home for the families of those residents who were staying at Hospice during the holiday season. Thank you to all the families who spent an evening with their children baking for others.
October 2011: Such a busy year! We have wonderful help from the HHM student leadership team this year which has allowed us to get several projects going at once.
In November we are collecting coats, gloves, scarves, winter hats for children in our own local community who do not have proper protection against the winter cold. Simply bring them in to school. They can be dropped off in Mrs Shaw's room.
We will also be collecting children's Christmas gifts to be donated to children who are part of SCAN, Stop Child Abuse Now. Each family is asked to donate one new gift. The students have a list of suggested gifts and the age and gender of the child they are donating to. We are always so grateful for the generosity of our children and our families. These gifts are due in to school by Nov 22 since the party at which they are distributed will be the first Saturday in December. WE regret that so much is happening in November since the Thanksgiving baskets that every class will be donating are due on the 21st. I suppose 'tis the season!
Other awesome ventures we are working on include Pasta for Pennies, through the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society which raises money for research for blood cancers. While this drive is actually taking place during Lent, and will involve competition between classes to raise the most money for research, you can start now supporting your class by donating through the website at http://nc.sy.llsevent.org. Please look for Diocese of Charlotte and then Our Lady of Mercy School. Please indicate which class should receive credit for your donation. The class which raises the most money will be treated to a pasta dinner served by Olive Garden Restaurant.
Another ongoing effort is "Animals for Afghanistan". WE are collecting stuffed animals to be sent to armed forces in Afghanistan who give the stuffed animals to the children there. Bring them in anytime...we will have a box for them in the lobby or in Mrs Shaw's room...we ask for gently used please.
Helping Hands of Mercy 2011-12
Welcome back to Mercy. We are grateful for the leadership of our former 8th grade who have now graduated, and look forward to a new group of Middle School leaders to help us coordinate our school-wide efforts.
Congratulations to the Middle School students who volunteered and were selected to serve on the Leadership Team.
Hannah Boone Carson Gann Madison Wynn
Lindsay Carnes Gina Koesters Marilyn Butterworth
Maia Cancro Carly Player Cassidy Lechner
Carson Keith Chandler Keith Emma Carter
Nya Steele Ashton Pryce Brianna Griffin
Abbey Linnell Noah Saffer
Emily Olson Nicole Harrison
Cecilia Haggas Peter Ingle
Casey Martin
We had a great first meeting Thursday, Sept. 22. We heard lots of good ideas and assigned a liason group for each class in school. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, Sept 28. Stay tuned for a schedule of our efforts for the year. Remember, every student at Our Lady of Mercy is a member of Helping Hands of Mercy so we welcome everyone's ideas. We are looking forward to a great year.
Special thanks to Mrs. Lisa Marie Martin, who has offered to help us this year. We are very grateful for her assistance and leadership.
2010-11 Helping Hands Activities (We had a great year in 2010-11 so we are leaving these activities up on the website so that you can see the focus of Helping Hands of Mercy.
May 8: Our last big focus of the year will be the collection of bags and suitcases for children who are removed from their homes through Forsyth County Child Protective Services. We would like to have a good donation. Please looke for bags you no longer use. It is good to think of a child carrying proudly something that you have used and no longer need. Book bags are also needed. Thank you. We hope to wrap this up by May 17.
We are grateful for everyone's generosity throughout the year! We are especially grateful to the middle school students who have served on the leadership team all year. Their energy and enthusiasm keeps us going!
April 11: We have had a very busy year at Helping Hands of Mercy. In April we just launched the final big drive of the year and that is a collection of suitcases, bags, and satchels to be donated to Forsyth County Child Protective Services. We know that, when children have to be removed from their homes for their own safety, often they are given a large trash bag in which to collect their belongings. This is our way of lessening that one demoralizing aspect of an incredibly difficult situation by providing the children with a proper bag for their things. We did this three years ago and it was a huge success. The Department of Social Services says that they can use bags agin and we would like to help. If you have any such bags at home, please bring them to school during April and May.
We have had an ongoing committment to the children of Haiti. Our most recent effort was a raffle which yielded $315 to be sent to Father Tom Hagan, a Franciscan priest who lives and works in Haiti. He inspired many of our students when he spoke at Holy Cross some months ago. We have sent the money directly on to Father Hagan.
The raffle for the enormous Husky was a huge success. WE were able to collect $350 part of which was donated to Forsyth County Humane Society and part was donated to a family who had huge vet biils. Thank you for your generosity.
The Wee Care cereal drive was a huge success as well. Thank you to all who brought in cereal. Many children will have an adequate breakfast thanks to your generosity.
Dec 15: Helping Hands of Mercy have been very busy this month. We have collected over 160 coats and cold weather articles of outer clothing. All have already been distributed by Mrs Harold. Thank you to all who have donated. The coats are beautiful with lots of wear still in them. During these extremely cold days, it is good to know that you are helping someone stay warm. When have we ever had such an extremely cold December?
You should see the boxes of shoes being collected by the Varsity Girls' Basketball Team. There are huge boxes placed around the school and they are all full of shoes and boots donated by our Mercy Mustangs. This is the Soles for Souls program and the shoes will be sent to those who are going without shoes. We are so proud of the girls taking the initiative in starting this program. Unbridled Acts of Kindness at work!
We are still collecting high protein canned foods, including tuna, salmon, chicken, beans and peanut butter. Thanks for your generosity!
The youngest Helping Hands of Mercy (Pre-K through Third Grade) had a cookie bake off in December and over 10o dozen cookies were baked and donated to Hospice House. Families whose loved ones are in residence at Hospice House will enjoy these delicious cookies baked with such love by Mercy families. Thank you. I can imagine some of the family discussions going on in the kitchen while baking for these grateful but suffering families.
Mercy has been hit hard this year due to the economy. We have tried to sponsor projects which will not require our families opening up their wallets so often, but rather giving from what we already have. I think it has been a very successful first few months of the year. Our chilren do have such empathy for other people. We are feeling quite proud of our wonderful students and their families. Thank you!
Nov 14: The Kindergarten class kicked off our annual winter coat and mitten drive this week with a fashion show and parade throughout the school. They were reminding everyone that, as the weather gets cooler, children will need adequate protection from the cold. We will be collecting coats, mittens, gloves, scarves and hats again this year. Please bring them to Mrs Shaw's room. Mrs Harold, outreach coordinator in the parish, will be sure to get them to the children who need them.
Food drive: Ongoing is the food drive for high protein foods for children in our community. Mrs Harold tells us that there are many children who never or rarely get protein in their diet. We will be grateful for any food, but particularly peanut butter, canned tuna and chicken as well as dry or canned beans.
Special thanks to the girls' basketball team for their collection of food during the last month for Catholic Social Services food pantry. Every class participated and the results were impressive! Thanks to everyone who has contributed!
Sept 6, 2010: 6th, 7th and 8th graders are invited to be a part of the Helping Hands of Mercy Leadership Team. We need your help, you ideas and your energy. If you would like to be part of the leadership and help drive all our activities all year, please write a letter addressed to Mrs Shaw telling why you would like to be a part. Please give it to Mrs Shaw on Tuesday or Wednesday, Sept 7 or 8th. The first meeting will probably be Thursday of this week during lunch. Looking forward to a great year!
August 30, 2010 This week we will invite Middle School students to join the leadership team for Helping Hands of Mercy. We need several dedicated people from each class to guide the entire school this year. We will be focusing on fostering unbridled acts of kindness and hopefully we will be able to focus as well on how to deal with the sometimes unkind acts of bullying that we experience. We will plan the outreach activities for the year. If you are interested in being on the team, please write a brief letter addressed to Mrs. Shaw telling why you would like to serve in this capacity.
August 23, 2010 I will leave last year's activities up on this website for at least a short while this year so that you can see what all we have done in the past and to challenge us to be aware of ways we can continue to help those in need this year. Stay tuned for announcements about the choosing of the leadership team for Helping Hands of Mercy. We will need some energetic middle school students to volunteer their time to serve as our leadership.
Welcome back to Mercy! After our first two very successful years with Helping Hands of Mercy, we are looking forward to an even more generous year this year. The needs are great in our community and there is a lot we can do with our own helping hands. Stay tuned and we will be discussing and announcing some exciting new projects.