The Hands On Tzedakah/Pope John Paul II Community Service Program
Pope John Paul II High School is a Roman Catholic Institution in the Diocese of Palm Beach, Florida. An integral component of its mission is the development of the students' spiritual, physical, and moral gifts through academic excellence.
A formal community service program will enrich the lives of our students and the communities in which they live. This excerpt from the "PJPII's"Community Service Handbook typifies the deep commitment the school has to Service. They understand the many short-term and long-term benefits a Community Service Program provides their charges. All students must complete 100 hours of service to satisfy the requirements for graduation. And while 25 percent of the hours may be served within the Pope John Paul II Community, 75 percent of the total service hours must be completed at non-profit agencies in the wider community.
Results
Contact Information:
Pope John Paul II High School, 4001 N. Military Trail, Boca Raton, FL 33431, Jay Lower, Community Service Coordinator, Telephone: (561) 314-2115; email: jlower@pjpii.org; website: www.pjpii.org
Painting Sunshine
The program began when six high school students (that grew to 9 students) and their art teacher brought art to 30 disadvantaged children of migrant workers during the summer 2005. In collaboration with the Farm Workers Children’s Council, it began as a summer camp activity that met at In the Pines – the facilities where the children live and where Painting Sunshine continues as an after school program. Brother Robert Bathe, campus minister at Pope John Paul II High School was responsible for coordinating the match between the school, the Farm Workers Council, In the Pines and Hands On Tzedakah. From there Judy Swerlick, the art teacher from PJPII, brought this program to heights no one could have imagined.
The PJPII high school art students researched the Mexican and Guatemalan cultures of the students (ages 7 to 17) and brainstormed ideas on how to carry out the program most effectively. A most important focus was to give these kids a chance to develop a love for art and to build-up self-esteem by creating their own art. The quality of what is being taught and what is being produced is exceptional. The Cornell Museum in Delray Beach, Florida held a Painting Sunshine exhibit that featured 60 drawings and paintings by the children. One of the art students, a 15-year old wants to work with cars. He explained that he does not plan to make a career change based on his selection for Painting Sunshine , but participating in the program has encouraged him to pursue his line of work. I really love art and feel really good about my work being in a museum, he said. My parents are excited as well, and have encouraged me all along. I want to combine my talent with the pencil with my interest in auto mechanics, and perhaps do auto detailing.
Along with members of the community, the opening reception included the migrant children artists and their parents who were given transportation to the event. Hands On Tzedakah funded this project with a grant that paid for all the art supplies and the museum reception. The Florida Catholic - Students reach out to help disadvantaged children
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Giving is Better than Receiving
PJPII conducts a toy drive every year to benefit underprivileged children in the poor area of Pahokee, Florida. In fact, along with St. Jude School, more than 1500 gifts were collected and delivered to the children of St. Mary’s Parish there.
But this year, PJPII wanted to expand the gifts of Christmas to other areas that needed it just as much. So they organized a larger toy drive and included four other Catholic schools which would end up donating 500 gifts to the children of St. Philip Benizi Parish in Belle Glade, Florida. Their only quandary was how to get the gifts to Belle Glade. HOT stepped in and paid for the truck rental. Many of the students were on hand to see the faces of the children receiving the gifts. The aim is that students, who do this kind of work when they are young, will find that as a natural part of their adulthood – giving is better than receiving.
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Hurricane Relief Project
HOT worked with PJPII’s Community Service Coordinator and Public Relations Coordinator to conduct a drive at the school to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Hands On Tzedakah, in contact with the Mississippi Emergency Management group determined that items were critically needed in Purvis, Mississippi. HOT delivered a very specific list of items needed and the flyers were "backpacked" home by the student body. In the meantime, Jay Lower, from PJPII, contacted St. Jude Elementary School so those families could conduct the same collection drive. A few days later a staggering supply of non-perishable food, work gloves, flashlights and batteries, linens, diapers, personal hygiene products and more were brought in by the kids. Then the work began as everything was sorted, inventoried and boxed for pick up by a 54 foot truck that HOT supplied. The kids loaded the truck with what ended up being 482 boxes and then a group of them went with us to St. Jude to duplicate the process there for an additional 208 boxes.
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