Students give Pope Benedict birthday blessings

Photo courtesy of Christin Freeman

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Kearns-Saint Ann School seventh grade religion class go to the Utah Food Bank to sort cans of food to earn service hours for a national project called ?Birthday Blessings for Pope Benedict.? The school earned 2,256 hours.

SALT LAKE CITY — Kearns-Saint Ann School students accumulated more than 2,256 hours of service to send to Pope Benedict XVI for his birthday.

Throughout the United States, Catholic school students were involved in a project called "Birthday Blessings for Pope Benedict XVI." It was a gift of public service from U.S. Catholic students.

"The National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) asked if the Catholic schools would like to be involved in this project, so we asked our students if they would like to donate service hours in honor of Pope Benedict," said Christin Freeman, Kearns-Saint Ann advancement director. "Their response was overwhelming.

The service also included class projects. Vickie Maronick’s, seventh grade religion class spent two hours sorting cans of food at the Utah Food Bank. The students were amazed by the number of cans of food that had been donated from concerned and generous people throughout the Salt Lake Valley.

"Students who were sometimes not always actively involved, really excelled, and decided this is something they want to do on a weekly basis if they can," said Freeman. "Other students helped their elderly neighbors with spring planting, or their parents with yard work at home. There were many who planted trees and gardens in honor of Pope Benedict. Some students performed service hours by collecting recyclable cans and papers, collected personal items for the elderly, and others made sandwiches for the Good Samaritan Program at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.

"From the pre-kindergarten students to eighth grade students, the hours of services kept pouring in for this project," said Freeman.

The seventh grade class also collected personal care items such as toothbrushes, hairbrushes, deodorant, and other toiletry items for the AIDS Foundation.

"The students always do service hours, but this was over and above what we normally do," said Freeman. "At the same time, Hser Nay Moo, a Burmese refugee, was abducted, and as we later discovered, killed," said Freeman. "This touched the hearts and minds of all of us at Kearns-Saint Ann because this happened just one block from our school. This reminded us that life is precious.

" We again went to our students and parents to see if there was any way we could help," said Freeman. "Following this tragic event, the parents and students collected and donated $989 to give to Hser Nay Moo’s family.

"Our first grade class wanted to do something more for Hser Nay Moo because she was their age, so they prepared spiritual bouquets for her family," said Freeman. "Each student colored a picture of a bouquet of flowers, and each of the petals had a prayer on it. After they colored the bouquet, the students said a prayer. Our first grade teacher made the bouquets into a book. The students also wrote personal messages to the family, such as ‘I will pray for you,’ and ‘I will pray for Hser Nay Moo.’

"Many of our students live in the same area, and the police searched our school looking for Hser Nay Moo," said Freeman. "When you see it on television or read about it in the newspaper, that is one thing, but when the police came through your school building it is hard on the kids. They were confused as to why the police thought we would have her. We had to explain to the students, she might be scared and might try to hide in our school. The students and the police both were hoping she was hiding in our school and would be found safe.

"We were impressed with how our students answered the call to honor Pope Benedict by earning so many service hours," said Freeman. "They earned service hours through love of the pope and love of the church. They also showed great sorrow and love for Hser Nay Moo."