Give Unto Others

posted by Momo Fali on September 30, 2011

One of the benefits of Catholic school is that my kids and their classmates do a lot to serve the community and those less fortunate. I am NOT saying that public school kids don’t serve their community, so don’t start hatin’ on me.

I am, however, speaking from my own public school experience and we didn’t do diddly squat.

It wasn’t until I was in high school that I even knew what a service project was and it usually involved picking up trash down by the river. Last year, my daughter’s class spearheaded a project that raised $8000 to build a well and clean lavatories for a school in Afghanistan. Hmm…picking up gum wrappers vs. clean water for third-world schoolchildren? It’s a toss up.

There are collections for toys, clothing, toiletries and once a month, every child brings in canned goods. It teaches the kids early, and often, to give of themselves.

Yesterday, my daughter and some of her friends visited a local soup kitchen to serve lunch. Before they went, they had to write a “pre-reflection” on what they were about to do. Here is what my kid wrote:

I’m really excited to go to the soup kitchen. I really want to learn and experience the act of giving to others. My goal is to really, truly understand what it means to help out the community and be able to come back, and not just say, “I liked helping because it made me feel good”…but, maybe something along the lines of, “I really enjoyed helping out at the soup kitchen because I could see the joy and thanks on their faces.”

See that? It wasn’t about her…it was about them.

And, that makes the tuition bill a lot less hard to pay.

    Comments

  • Jessica


    Very cool. I agree, we didn’t do squat in my public school – not even in high school. Props to your daughter for having such inspiring insight at such a young age.

  • Frelle


    What a beautiful pre-reflection she wrote. You have an insightful child with a beautiful heart right there. ๐Ÿ™‚

  • Laura Warner


    When they got back Annie added “there wasn’t any soup”.

  • MaryD


    Although I am not a religious person, my parents were Catholics & sent me to Catholic school…dad even worked there. I agree with the fact that they do quite a bit of community service activities with the kids, but I have also found it sad that some of the high school moms tell children things like: This looks good on college apps… I’ve even had 2 moms ask me if they can JUST SAY(but I also have to fill out forms) their daughters are volunteering at the food pantry I am involved with.
    Uhm, no… ~Mary

  • tracey - justanothermommy


    That’s awesome that she is so into making others feel good. ๐Ÿ™‚

  • mrsmouthy


    My kid is in a public school. I’m hoping the local Catholic school picks his school up for their service project this year. ๐Ÿ˜‰