School-wide Service 2018-2019

2019 Kids Against Hunger Event
Holy Ghost School participated in a Kids Against Hunger event that was hosted by the local Catholic High School.  Students were asked to sacrificially donate during Lent and were given bottles in which to collect change. Students in Grades K- 8 were required to donate at least $10 to participate in the food packing event at the high school.  The students and staff raised $3688.00 to support this event. They were transported on April 17th to the high school and spent 1.5 - 3.5 hours packing food.  Several other schools also participated in the food packing event. PreK students at Holy Ghost held their own mini packing event and prepared more than 1000 servings.   Approximately 150,000 food servings were packed at this event and were distributed by Kids Against Hunger in New Mexico. More than 1,000,000 servings have been packed in Albuquerque since the first food packing event was held at Holy Ghost Catholic School in 2007.
 

2018 - 2019  St. Vincent de Paul Food Drive
Holy Ghost School’s Service Club sponsored a successful year-long food drive for the Parish St. Vincent de Paul Society which distributes food to local families in need.  Food was collected from students weekly by school service club members. Several school food sculpture events were held to motivate students to bring food.  


2018 - 2019 Kenya Peace Pals
Twenty-four students began a penpal relationship with students at a high school in Kenya.  This relationship was facilitated by the Global One to One organization. Multiple handwritten letters were exchanged between the schools in both the Fall and Spring semesters. 

2018 - 2019 Open Space Community Service 
One day a month (for 5 months) students from grades 5-8 that were academically and honor level eligible were chosen to go on an all day service-learning field trip .  We teamed with the City of Albuquerque Open Space Department on a variety of conservation projects around the city on Open Space Lands. Tasks included trail work and tree planting.  This year we worked approximately 520 total hours. 
 

2018  St. Martin’s/HopeWorks Merry Bag Project
Thanks to outstanding participation and generosity by students, parents, and staff, the 6th annual St. Martin’s Merry Bag project was a huge success.   Students raised money to purchase items and solicited donations for the Merry Bags. We raised a total of $2783 for this project and donated 300 each of chap sticks, hats, and pairs of gloves as well as backpacks.  Students assembled the Merry Bags (i.e., gift bags) with the items. Each Merry Bag (which had been decorated by students in art class) contained a $5 McDonald’s gift card, a Christmas card from students, candy, and a chap stick.  The 300 Merry Bags as well as hats and gloves were passed out by staff members and 8th Grade Students before Christmas at St. Martin’s Hospitality Center.  In addition, the 4th and 5th Grade Choir sang Christmas carols.  HopeWorks is a nonprofit agency that provides services to homeless people in Albuquerque.  The staff of St. Martins and the people they serve were very grateful.


2018 International Club Celebration (Catholic Charities)Approximately 40 students and family members who are refugees from Africa and the Middle East attended a end of semester International Club celebration at Holy Ghost School in December 2018.  These students successfully completed an after school homework club facilitated by Catholic Charities. The celebration was planned and facilitated by Holy Ghost students and faculty as well as staff from Catholic Charities.  The celebration included food, games, and Certificates of Graduation. Each participant received a bag of toiletry supplies provided by a Holy Ghost family.