Students
Hop to Help for Easter
Some Omaha area families got more than the normal visit from the
Easter Bunny this year.
On April 6, Marian girls from each religion class took gifts to
Westminster Presbyterian Church on 35th and Woolworth Ave.
The gifts taken down to the church help provide for needy
families. Every Lenten season for the past six years, the Marian community has
pulled together to serve these families.
Prior to the delivery day, girls spent time packaging their class
donations. Immediately after school, volunteer students drove their cars up to
the driveway in front of Marian, loaded their cars, and were off to play the
Easter bunny for an afternoon.
Families are not always available to pick up their Easter package
once it is brought to the church. Some Marian girls were asked to drive to the
familyıs house to drop off the donations. ³I took it to [the familyıs] hour and
they were jumping up and down saying, Is this mine? Is this for us?ı² said
junior Becca Smith of her delivery experience last year.
The girls were also welcome to stay until their family came so
they could personally give the family their Easter goodies and help load them
into their cars.
For the past three years, Marian has worked with Field Club
School, which is only a few blocks from the delivery site, to achieve this act
of service. Teachers at the grade school contacted Mrs. Sue Klosterman, a
counselor at Field Club, with names of children that they suspected may need
extra help.
After receiving permission from the families, Klosterman passes on
the names to Marian religion teacher Mr. Mark Koesters. This year, 20 families,
with a range of three to seven children, were selected.
Koesters gave the names to the other religion teachers who then
split the families among their classes. The students in the classes bring in
money or extra donations of needed supplies for their family during Lent. This
year between $3,000 and $3,500 was raised, not including the value of any
household goods that students brought in themselves.
³The idea is what you give up for Lent, you give to your family,² said
Koesters. ³Itıs at least one time in the year when every student has a chance
to do service.²
The Easter family program provides many ways to do service. Every
student that brings in money or supplies does service for the family. Girls volunteer
their time to buy items such as new clothes, food, and household products for
the families using the money the class raised. Other girls sacrifice time to
organize the gifts or to drive the packages down to the church on the delivery
day.
These acts of service tie back to the Mission Statement of Marian
High School that as young women we should use our talents and faith to give
back to our little part of the world, even if just by filling in for the Easter
Bunny.