St. Mary’s Christmas gift baskets a church-wide endeavor

Over the next few weeks St. Mary School families will continue a longstanding tradition of donating food items for Christmas food baskets. Items like canned fruit, beef stew, macaroni & cheese, pancake mix, spaghetti, pasta sauce, peanut butter and jelly and others will be combined with gift collections from St. Mary’s “Giving Tree”. Food donations from the school are but one part of an overall parish-wide effort.

The Giving Tree program provides gifts and necessities for those in-parish, as well as the surrounding community. Tags containing specific gift requests are taken by St. Mary parishioners and then returned to the church. Once sorted, the items will go to families, St. Louis Center, Career Works and Sacred Heart Nursing home. School children also participate in adopting a small family, often doing extra chores to earn money to buy gifts.

This is a heartwarming effort for St. Mary Men’s Club member Bill Peltier, who has been involved in Christmas baskets for several years. “These families wouldn’t have a Christmas if it weren’t for the St. Mary baskets,” explained Peltier. “There are many volunteers that make it possible, who are very giving of their time and money. The whole thing exemplifies the true spirit of Christmas.”

St. Mary's Men's Club will distribute the Christmas baskets to families in need just in time the holidays. Last year, 50 families received Christmas food baskets and more than 30 families were assisted with gifts.

St. Mary School partners with parents providing a Catholic school rooted in the gospel teachings of Jesus Christ, modeled by Mary our mother, encouraging a virtuous life following the Catholic faith and pursuing academic excellence.

St. Mary is a State of Michigan Certified Green School, is fully accredited by the Michigan Nonpublic Accrediting Association (MANS), and is a member of the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA).