Compassion is the Xaverian value of the year at Xavier High School.
“Compassion compels us in a Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School community to look at life through the eyes of Christ, to encounter those who suffer, to accompany them, and to seek the appropriate action to alleviate hardship.”
That is written in “Partners In Mission: Understanding the Xaverian Way,” an XBSS document. And that was carried out by Xavier students and families, faculty and staff, in November, and it will be again in December.
The Ryken Service Society held its annual Thanksgiving drive to help the Middletown Community Thanksgiving Project. Xavier was asked to collect cranberry sauce and gravy, and the community contributed 124 cans of gravy and 152 cans of cranberry sauce.
“This year the Middletown Community Thanksgiving Project provided over 97 Thanksgiving baskets for Middletown families in need. Your donation helped make this possible,” wrote Lara SantaMaria, the project coordinator, in a letter of thanks to Xavier.
Things were different this year, of course, considering COVID-19. The organization held a “drive through” pickup so people could stay in their cars. The Middletown Rotary Club delivered baskets to those unable to pick them up.
We often say Xavier is a community within itself, but we also say that we are part of the bigger community. One of those communities is Middletown itself. Another community we’re helping this year, as we have for many years, is the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
The National Honor Society sponsors this drive and members will start collecting money Dec. 10. The goal is $3,000.
St. Jude is a leading children’s hospital that treats the toughest childhood cancer cases. Families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food.
We are called to help, “to be the eyes, the ears, and the hands of the loving God.”