When Joe Carta of St. Sebastian Church in Middletown reached out to Xavier Administrative Assistant Lisa Keereweer she didn’t hesitate. The St. Sebastian Outreach Program would be collecting toiletries during the Lenten season to be distributed after Easter as Blessed Bags.
Keereweer also is the moderator of the Student Activities Council (SAC) at Xavier.
“I thought it was something SAC could do for the community, so I jumped on it,” Keereweer said.
Already the donations are piling in and filling bins in the main entranceway. The collections will continue through March 25. There are four bins, one from each grade. The grade that brings in the most total items will receive a free dress down day. Nothing like a little competition to increase the number of items collected. The breakdown:
Grade 9: hand soap, shampoo/conditioner, toothbrushes
Grade 10: toothpaste, dental floss, hand sanitizer
Grade 11: mouthwash, tissues/wipes, band-aids
Grade 12: shaving cream, razors, deodorant
“We reached out to Xavier because we wanted to engage young adults in service to the local community, and this should provide an excellent opportunity for service hours as well,” Carta said. “My son graduated in '99 and his time at Xavier has really served him well in his life.
“We intend to give the contributions to the St. Vincent De Paul/Amazing Grace organizations here in town. St. Sebastian Church has had outreach volunteers at the Amazing Grace facility and helped to make sandwiches for the needy.
“Due to the pandemic the outreach activities had been curtailed somewhat, and Father James wanted to reestablish the good works again now that we are beginning to see the end.”