Sixth graders help mothers and babies in need

Courtesy photo/Saint John the Baptist Middle School

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DRAPER — Saint John the Baptist Middle School sixth graders practiced the act of stewardship through their Respect Life Baby Project.

The project was put together by religion teacher Maria Moynihan and the six sixth-grade home-room classes. The students collected baby items for Holy Cross Ministries' St. Martha's Baby Project and the Pregnancy Resource Center.

"Stewardship goes beyond giving money," said Ruth Penderghast, Saint John the Baptist accountant. "The students have been amazing this year with their projects. We don't give money just to get it off our conscience and say ?We gave, I'm good.' Stewardship goes much deeper and spreads to our communities and neighborhoods. The kids at the school got behind their projects this year, whether or not they were Catholic or had a faith background. They brought in baby supplies to support mothers in need and really thought about helping to put an end to abortion. The schools are teaching our children what stewardship really means."

During October, which is Respect Life Month, Moynihan talked to the students about respecting life, about mothers in need and why a mother might feel pressure to abort a baby. "We talked about options for someone who respects life and how we should be pro-life ourselves," said Moynihan. "I want the students to learn they can make a difference in a young mother's life, who perhaps is really struggling to provide for her baby and that is what the Pregnancy Resource Center does. They provide help to mothers who are struggling financially and emotionally. The women who run St. Martha's Baby Project provide a layette full of baby supplies for children being born into poverty. All of the new items for newborns we collected went to St. Martha's Baby Project and the larger and gently used items were given to the Pregnancy Resource Center."

The sixth graders collected over 7,000 diapers, 6,000 baby wipes, 1,600 articles of clothing, 184 blankets, 111 stuffed animals, 15 large items such as high chairs and strollers, 13 new diaper bags and 893 miscellaneous items. "The students brought in the items through a friendly competition between the home rooms," Moynihan said, adding that the students received points related to the value of the items they bought in. The diapers were worth negative points so the students had fun bringing in diapers and depositing them in another homeroom.

"The rewards were the intrinsic reward of giving and the ability to take a field trip and tour of the Pregnancy Resource Center to deliver the items," Moynihan said. "This was our third year and these two agencies depend on our donations."