Rockets spread Christ’s Love in Action through day of service

McNicholas students celebrated Catholic Schools Week with a school-wide day of service. This Day of Christ’s Love in Action is just one example of the McNicholas commitment to serving our neighbors, as the Sisters of St. Joseph have inspired us to do.

Each academic department facilitated a different service project so that students had an opportunity to touch many lives as they worked their way through their class schedules on Friday, Feb. 2. Students grew in compassionate leadership and put their love into action in a variety of ways, including donating blood, crafting blankets for Hospice patients, making sandwiches and reusable bags for local food pantries, collecting and counting change for Catholic Relief Services, writing cards to seniors in local living communities, and much more.

Principal Bob Noll said, “The impact McNicholas students have on their community is beyond measure, but we were able to calculate a few tangibles from this day of generous service.”

• The SAIL Department made 24 blankets to bring warmth to people in Hospice of Southwest Ohio.  
   
• The Theology Department put a new twist on an old tradition, rolling over $700 worth of change to donate to Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio for refugee resettlement. They also crafted 25 rosaries for chaplains at local senior living facilities.
   
• The English and World Languages Departments wrote hundreds of poems and cards to spread love in local senior living facilities for Valentine’s Day.  
   
• The Science Department moved 7 yards of dirt, preparing our campus garden that will produce vegetables this spring for a local soup kitchen. They also collected aluminum cans to help fund engineering students' mobility ramp project. 
   
• The History Department made a total of 413 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to give to local food pantries including SEM and IPM.  
   
• With the help of Hoxworth Blood Center, students gave 47 units of blood with the potential to save 141 lives. 54 students maxed out sign up slots available and started a waitlist to give blood.
   
• The Math and Business Departments turned donated t-shirts into 350 reusable bags for St. Vincent DePaul food pantries. 
   
• The Art Department made 50 friendship bracelets to give to bring joy to patients at Children’s Hospital.  

In addition, several of our student organizations were motivated to host share drives during Catholic Schools Week. Our Youth Chapter of St. Vincent de Paul organized a Warm Clothing Drive, the Rockets for Life collected baby items to support mothers and babies through A Caring Place, and the National Honor Society sponsored a New and Used Book Drive in support of local elementary schools.

Mr. Noll added, “Thank you to all our students, staff, and families who helped contribute to our day of service in big and small ways! It was a beautiful way to put our faith into action as we celebrated Catholic Schools Week.”