In December the senior wing staff and students of St. James Catholic School in Lively launched a Christmas fundraising project in hopes of filling a stable with animals for a third world community in conjunction with the World Vision Organization. The stable will provide food, fuel, wood, income and fertilizer to a community in need to help break the cycle of poverty.

The goal of $1,200 was achieved within two weeks through generous family donations and with proceeds from ticket sales from a Christmas semi-formal dance.

Students at Bishop Carter Catholic Secondary School marked the beginning of the Advent Season by celebrating a special mass with Father Pat Woods. By coming together as a Catholic community students were given the opportunity to pray together and reflect on how they are preparing to celebrate Christmas.

Father Pat reminded the students that it is important to take time to reflect on the many ways that God comes into their lives and not let the retail hype of Christmas overshadow this important event. The students were challenged to be attentive to God’s presence during this busy time of year
.
Father Pat also shared with the students that as Catholics we are a people of hope who are always seeking ways to use our talents and gifts to help those around us. To this end, students at Bishop Carter are in the process of collecting items for Christmas baskets which will be given to members of the community to help brighten their Christmas morning. This school wide effort to help follows closely on two other successful initiatives this fall. Earlier this year, students raised funds through their mission collections to build a well in India, collected an additional $750.00 to purchase insecticide treated mosquito netting as part of the “Spread the Net” campaign and undertook a UNICEF fundraiser to eradicate malaria in developing countries.

These types of Social Justice efforts help Bishop Carter students become more aware of the needs of others on an international, national, provincial and regional basis.

Bishop Carter Catholic Secondary School would like to express its deepest appreciation to Father Pat Woods for celebrating Advent Mass and to Mrs. Onuska for co-ordinating the mission efforts.