Saint Peter School in Merchantville made refugees served by Catholic Charities a part of both their Jubilee of Mercy observance as well as their Catholic Schools Week celebration.
Students in every class collected household items for refugee families served by Catholic Charities during the month of January as they celebrated the corporal work of mercy “Welcome the Stranger,” and especially during Catholic Schools Week as the week’s service project.
Students presented Catholic Charities’ refugee staff member Hting Mangshang with a basket of the donations during their Catholic Schools Week closing Mass on Friday, Feb. 5. The donations of cleaning supplies, household goods, and hygiene items were enough to fill two cars and will be used to furnish the apartments of newly arriving refugee families who are resettled by Catholic Charities. The students in grades pre-K through eighth grade discussed the corporal work of mercy in their classes while they collected the items and learned about refugees as part of the project.