During a school year when social distancing in the classroom and e-learning at homemade service projects difficult to coordinate, students at St. John the Evangelist School in St. John stepped up to help local families.
Seventh-grade girls who are part of the school’s Marian Award program delivered two carloads of baby supplies in mid-May for the Prenatal Assistance Program at Franciscan Health St. Clare Health Clinic in Crown Point.
The group had raised funds in the past for Franciscan’s Prenatal Assistance Program, and even with the challenges, program coordinator Carmen Shafer said she and her sister decided it was too important to not renew that commitment. “We had to get really creative with how we approached this particular project,” Shafer said, adding that instead of fundraisers at school, the girls raised money within their families and groups. The Marian Award group meets weekly and the girls worked on this project for most of the year.
In addition to an abundance of clothes donated by friends and neighbors, funds raised were used to purchase 30 boxes of diapers, along with baby wipes, toiletries, blankets, bibs and burp cloths. Students Saoirse McShane, Ella Shafer, Alyssa Verduzco, Elizabeth Birlson, Chloe Neal and Elaina Gromala joined parents Carmen Shafer and Theresa Birlson to deliver the supplies to the clinic.
Prenatal Assistance Program Manager Jamie Donsbach said donations like those from the St. John the Evangelist students are vital to helping local families. “It’s how we survive. It’s donations from the generosity of the community,” she said. Donsbach estimated about 100 to 150 mothers come each month for assistance.
Diapers, supplies and new to gently used baby clothes, size newborn to 4T can be brought to the St. Clare Health Clinic, 1121 N. Indiana Ave. Call (219) 663-5349 to coordinate a donation. To make a monetary donation to Franciscan Health’s Prenatal Assistance Program, call the Franciscan Health Foundation at (219) 661-3401, or go online at FranciscanHealthFoundation.org.
