The St. Nicholas Project is traveling to two different Catholic schools in Vermont for a Christmas ornament yard-sale. This week I went to the Good Shepherd Catholic School in St. Johnsbury, VT and next week we will be at the Bishop John A. Marshall School in Morrisville, VT. The purpose of the visit is threefold: One, is to sell Christmas ornaments to the students to take home to their families. Second, is to raise some money for the children's home. Third, is to teach the Catholic school children about the existence of the Kurn Hattin Homes for Children in their own state. Each child gets a flyer to take home with his or her bag of ornaments.
It's good for children to learn while they are young the value and beauty of philanthropy and charity. The visits to these schools is educational in the sense that we are showing kids that helping out children their own age in difficult circumstances can be fun and rewarding.
Our first visit last week in St. Johnsbury, VT was very successful--not in the sense that it raised a lot of money, but in the sense that the school children were so generous with their money. All items sold for 25 cents and multiple items could be bought for just 25 cents. But so many of the children said that we could keep all of the extra change because they wanted to donate it to the children's home. I was so deeply impressed by their generosity and touched by their thoughtfulness. I have great hope that they will be the next generation of philanthropists!
As we get closer and closer to Christmas, think about teaching the children in your life the importance of being charitable. Encourage them to make a donation to the Kurn Hattin Homes for Children as a Christmas present. They may enjoy it more than you think. And then they may want to make it a yearly tradition--teaching their own children the value of charity.
God bless you!
