Cutlines:

Holy Cross students stand with items to be donated from one of their recent projects to support local charities. Each team had one student from each grade at the K-8 school.

Courtesy photo

A bake sale, donations of books and fulfilling items on a wish list were a few of the projects undertaken by Holy Cross School students recently to benefit charities during Catholic Schools Week.

The theme for the week of Jan. 23-30 was “Catholic Schools Celebrate Service.” Holy Cross Principal Dr. Martha Corkery said the teams of children age 5 to 14 worked on projects to support the Ronald McDonald House, the Center for Grieving Children, the Animal Refuge League and the South Portland Boys and Girls Club.

On Friday, Jan. 30, representatives from these organizations came to Holy Cross to accept the donations.

For the Ronald McDonald House, the children held a bake sale and used the money to purchase bedding. They also donated books, made bookmarks and put together care packages that included snacks, games, cards and a postcard to send back to the school so the children could remember them in their daily prayers.

For the Center for Grieving Children, the children used the theme “My Favorite Things” to collect some of their favorite things to cheer up the children at the center. They made “A Book of Smiles” that is all about what makes them smile.

The teams that helped The Animal Refuge League collect items on the agency’s wish list, from towels and stuffed animals to food. They also made toys for the animals to play with.

The Boys and Girls Club was the recipient of a cash donation that came from the students paying $1 each to dress down.

Corkery said, “It was wonderful to see the children all working together to create something so wonderful and to see how appreciative these organizations were to accept their donations.”

(group of kids in Holy Cross school uniforms)