Service Projects
All Saints’ Community Outreach Team (consisting of volunteer parents) creates age-appropriate community service projects for each grade that remain consistent year-to-year and provide a foundation of compassion and giving in our children to reflect our Catholic values.
Pre-Kindergarten – Building Community
The Sunshine Committee
About the Organization:
The Sunshine Committee will help spread joy throughout our All Saints campus. We will include all of the staff on our campus from the parish hall, to the office, teachers, assistants, and extended-care personnel. We will strive to honor everyone’s birthday with a hand written and artistically drawn card. When families need prayers and thoughts during times of hardship or sorrow, we will let them know that we are praying and thinking of them. Our goal is to assist our youngest students in building empathy and good-citizenship.
What Is the Project:
The Pre-K will make special cards for all faculty, staff and parish personnel who are celebrating an event or needs support, encouragement and prayers.
How Are Students Involved:
Students will make and deliver special messages, cards, flowers, etc…
How Are Parents Involved:
Parents can bring supplies for cards like stickers, special paper, confetti etc…
Another way families can help build empathy and good citizenship is to take the time to have meaningful discussions with their children about our project.
Kindergarten – People in our Community
- Create care packages for veterans
- Make valentines for Laurelhurst Village seniors
- Deliver flowers to neighboring houses in spring
What Is the Project:
The students will take part in an interactive discussion and project focusing on the above-mentioned groups. For example, a healthy discussion around what it means to be a veteran will take place within the classroom with an All Saints military veteran parent. On Veteran’s Day, the children will take part in making cards and/or care packages for persons that served or are serving in our military. You should expect similar emphasis with seniors within the All Saints Parish and the neighbors surrounding the school.
How Are Students Involved:
Veteran’s Day – Discuss the value provided by our veterans and take part in a project that demonstrates our appreciation for what they do for our country.
Valentine’s Day – Partner with Laurelhurst Village (a nearby senior living facility) to deliver hand-crafted Valentines and visit/play during game time with the residents.
Spring Flowers – Discuss the importance of being a good neighbor and create flower baskets to show our thanks to the neighbors in the homes that surround All Saints.
How Are Parents Involved:
Partner with the Community Outreach Liaison and teachers to support the projects within the classroom. Continue the importance of community with your children at home.
1st Grade – Art for the Heart
What Is the Project:
Twice a year, the first-grade classrooms will collect donations to benefit local children receiving medical care. In fall, we will collect small toys to be used as BINGO prizes for the patients of Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel. The donations will then be delivered to the hospital, coordinated by the Liaison. All children and parents that are interested in helping with the delivery are welcome (no colds or illness please). A representative from the hospital will greet them and talk about the importance of their efforts.
In spring, we will have an art supply drive to benefit both the patients and siblings staying at the Ronald McDonald House at OHSU. A representative from RMH will talk to the students at school about what the organization does and how their donations help the families. Again, the delivery to RMH will be led by the Liaison, but only a small number of illness-free students or parents may attend.
How Are Students Involved:
Students (with the help of their parents) will choose an item from a Wish List that they would like to provide as a donation. They will be able to meet a representative of the agency and listen to how their generous spirit helps other kids. If possible, they may attend a donation delivery. Also, students may make encouraging cards or posters for patients during class time.
How Are Parents Involved:
Parents will need to provide a donation of new art supplies or small toys (as indicated on a Wish List) or a monetary contribution towards purchasing these items. Parents are also welcome to attend the in-class presentation made by Ronald McDonald House or join the Liaison on a donation delivery.
2nd Grade – Books Build Bridges
What Is the Project:
Once a year, the second grade holds a book drive to benefit the Childre’s Book Bank (CBB). Before the drive, a representative from CBB will come to the classroom to talk to the students about who receives the books and guide the children in cleaning the books. The children will assist in making posters to communicate the drive’s scope and timeframe, and work in pairs to present to each class. A table and donation boxes will be set up in the portico before and after school so that all grades have an opportunity to donate. The drive should last a minimum of two days, but no more than five. Due to the generosity of the All Saints community, we were able to donate nearly 700 books after our first book drive, and 1,459 books in the second year!
When hosting the drive it is important to communicate what is needed:
New or gently used books for younger children such as:
Baby, board, Spanish, picture, story, chapter, rhyming, shapes, alphabet, or numbers.
And what is not accepted:
Coloring or activity books, encyclopedias. Books that are damaged, written in, or musty.
How Are Students Involved:
The students will bring book donations from home, help at the Book Drive table with assigned parents, listen to an in-class presentation by a CBB representative, learn how to clean books, create posters for the book drive, and present information about the book drive to each All Saints class.
How Are Parents Involved:
Besides helping kids clean out their home bookshelf, parents will be needed to help collect books at the book drive table set up in the portico before and after school. The Liaison may also ask for help delivering the books to the Children’s Book Bank.
3rd Grade – Caring for the Elderly
What Is the Project:
Each month during the school year, the third-grade class will reach out to the residents at Laurelhurst Village with kindness and compassion through Gifts from the Heart: personalized cards, decorative holiday-themed door hangers, artwork to hang in patient rooms, and occasional visits. The residents and staff are looking forward to welcoming the generous gifts provided by our All Saints students.
Classroom delivery responsibilities will alternate monthly (i.e.: 3A delivers in October, 3B delivers in November) and one or two family volunteers will be requested to deliver the Gifts from the Heart and visit with some of the residents. They will be greeted by Father John or one of the community service staff who will introduce the families to the residents. It brings great joy to the residents to have an opportunity to see and talk with the children. The students will also be visiting the Village during the holiday season to sing carols to the residents.
How Are Students Involved:
Each month in their classrooms, the students will write personalized letters and/or create festive door hangers for the residents. Depending on the time of the year, students may also complete art projects and written projects based on the curriculum. Participation and effort in this community service project is part of their Religion grade.
How Are Parents Involved:
One or two families will be needed to deliver the Gifts from the Heart to Laurelhurst Village each month and spend some time visiting with the residents. There will also be a need for parent chaperones for the group visit in December, during which the students will walk to the Village and sing in the dining hall.
4th Grade – Feeding the Hungry
Oregon Food Bank – Field Trip to Shelve Food
What Is the Project:
The students will take a field trip to the Portland location where they will spend two and a half hours working as volunteers. They will work together to repackage bulk food donations from apples to oats into family-size portions. This food then stocks the shelves of food pantries, meal sites, and other hunger-relief agencies. The class will also take a tour of the food warehouse and learn about hunger in Oregon.
How Are Students Involved:
The students will take one trip to the Portland location of the Oregon Food Bank and volunteer their time. Volunteering builds compassion, self-esteem, and teamwork.
How Are Parents Involved:
The field trip will require one parent chaperone for every five students, approximately five parents per class.
- Hungry Helping Packs – meal pack program for homeless
Mission: Hungry Helping Packs were developed last year as a new and unique concept for the fourth-grade community outreach project. They provide an opportunity for the students to serve and support those people in their own community who are hungry.
What Is the Project:
The students will compile individual packages in Ziploc bags that contain one complete non-perishable meal (tuna, applesauce, granola bar, nuts, and juice). They will sell these after school to families that would like to give them away to a homeless person or anyone in our community who is hungry. They will work together in their classrooms to create the packs and enclose an inspirational, heartfelt message into each one. They will be made and sold for a week during the Advent season before and after school in the portico and after mass. The proceeds of the sales will be donated to the Oregon Food Bank during their spring field trip.
How Are Students Involved:
The students will work together as a team to provide food donations for the 200 individual packs, compile them during a pre-set class time with a name label and an inspirational note enclosed, and sell them after school and mass to other All Saints families/students who will gift them to those in need.
How Are Parents Involved:
Parents will be needed to provide food donations (approximate cost of $10) to create 200 meal packs. The request for supplies will be specific, including a desired amount. Parents will also be needed to accompany students when they sell the packs after school and mass.
5th Grade – Kids Helping Kids
- Northwest Children’s Outreach (NCO)– clothing and toiletry collection, unloading and sorting
What Is the Project:
The fifth grade will work with Project Renewal at NCO by collecting hygiene supplies for children, babies, and new mothers. These items may be brought from the student’s home, purchased, or they may ask relatives, friends, or neighbors to donate.
On the day of our service project, one fifth-grade class walks with their teacher and chaperones to the bus stop on Glisan. From there, we take Trimet to Northwest Children’s Outreach Center. While there, students work in groups to help sort and fill bags with hygiene products. This service project is done once a year.
This project is part of our fifth-grade religion curriculum. We are asked to serve our community and help clothe the less fortunate.
How Are Students Involved:
Prior to going to Northwest Children’s Outreach for our service project, students are asked to collect or purchase necessary hygiene supplies for children (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant); babies (wipes, baby wash, shampoo, diaper cream); and new mothers (shampoo, soap, deodorant). As a class, we also discuss our upcoming service project during Religion and have a guest speaker from NCO come to talk to the children about the organization and the children they serve.
The day of our community outreach project, we travel as a class to Northwest Children’s Outreach. Once we arrive, students are put into groups to help sort and pack the donated items. After our visit, back in the classroom, students are asked to reflect upon and discuss their experience.
How Are Parents Involved:
Parents are asked to help their students gather items for donation. Parents are also asked to join us on our field trip as chaperones. They are responsible for a small group of students on the walk, bus, and at the Center. While there, parents will be asked to assist their group in sorting and packing items.
- Project Lemonade – new socks and underwear drive for foster children
What Is the Project:
The fifth grade is responsible for collecting new or gently used clothing in good condition or new socks and underwear. This service project is conducted in May to best prepare Project Lemonade for the “Back to School Shopping” that occurs from their store throughout the summer. Although led by the fifth grade, all grades will have an opportunity to donate. This project supports the curriculum by helping to serve our community, helping to clothe the less fortunate, and enhancing the self-esteem of those in need.
How Are Students Involved:
Students will be asked to donate new socks and underwear or new or gently used clothing. The students, with their families, are asked to publicize the drive with the school community. Once the clothing drive is completed, children may be asked to sort clothing by size and type for delivery to Project Lemonade. Over the summer, individuals or groups of families can sign up to work in the store (end of July to end of August, Friday through Monday). Each volunteer shift is three hours.
How Are Parents Involved:
Parents are asked to help students collect items to donate and discuss the challenges foster children may face at home.
6th Grade – Friend-to-Friend Program
- Providence Hospital Center for Medically Fragile Children – monthly visits
What Is the Project:
This service-learning project supports the teachings of the Catholic Church and the principles of social justice. It promotes mutual respect among all participants and actively engages students in meaningful and personally relevant service. Twice a month, during their Religion class, students walk down to Providence to participate in the Friend-to-Friend Program. This service-learning project directly supports the standards of the All Saints Religion Program.
How Are Students Involved:
Students participate in an extensive orientation program – “Welcome to My World.” Students experience disabilities, are taught how to communicate with our Providence friends, and participate in two sessions taught by Dorothy Coughlin, Director of the Office of Disabilities for the Archdiocese of Portland. Once the training is completed, the students take a tour of the Center. Then students are invited to participate in the Friend-to-Friend Program.
Students begin and end each visit in the chapel. After prayer, we go to the Teams where students read books, do art projects, sing songs, go on walk-and-rolls, plan parades, and even put on plays. When students return to All Saints, they write a reflection in their religion journal. At the end of the year, students write a paper on their experiences.
How Are Parents Involved:
We need parents to support this project. Every visit needs at least three parent volunteers with up-to-date All Saints training (Armatus). The Child Center offers a mandatory orientation session for all parent volunteers. There are usually three different dates and the orientation lasts about two hours.
Parents walk with the students and a teacher to the Child Center and are then assigned to one of three Providence teams. Parents supervise the students and participate in all of our activities. Please refrain from cell-phone use, bringing in outside drinks, or visiting with other parents while volunteering. No photography.
7th Grade – Called to Discipleship
Small-group, self-directed projects created by students in the spring
- Catholic Relief Services – Rice Bowl project during Lent
How Are Students Involved:
Students will exhibit effective discipleship, interpersonal communication, and problem-solving skills in a variety of settings. They will identify a problem, analyze the facts, and design a plan with well-reasoned solutions. This project allows them to work on both their teamwork and leadership skills.
During 2016, students selected projects benefitting the following organizations:
- Alex’s Lemonade Stand
- Clackamas County Dog Service
- The Crib Project
- Providence Easter Party
- Library Outreach Services
- Feeding the Homeless
- Free Geek
- Children’s Book Bank
- Hacienda CDC
- Ronald McDonald House
- Graffiti Removal
- Pongo Fund
- Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel
- Community Transitional School
- Theater Means Bright
- PAW Team
Students will share their projects and celebrate their accomplishments with the parish community on Service Sunday (Date TBD) held in the Parish Hall before and after 10:30 a.m. mass.
How Are Parents Involved:
Parents are asked to sign the service-learning contract. They are also asked to support their student’s selected project by helping to collect and deliver donations and to attend Service Sunday.
8th Grade – Stewards of the School
- Assist all facets of the school – tours, recycling, teacher/office/hot lunch assistance, host assemblies
- St. Vincent de Paul – food drives throughout the year
- All School – Joined by Faith
- Catholic Charities Housing Transitions Program – monthly sack lunch preparation
- The Giving Tree – Christmas
- Cystic Fibrosis Foundation – annual fundraiser
What Is the Project:
The eighth-grade students lead monthly canned food drives to benefit the food pantry located in the All Saints Parish. All canned and non-perishable food items are accepted. The drives are held for 7-10 days.
How Are Students Involved:
Students are responsible for writing communications about the food drives: emails for school distribution, Newsy Notes entries, and signage for school doors and hallways. They also visit classrooms to talk with the younger kids about the drive, collect all donated items from the classrooms, and deliver the collections to the food pantry.
How Are Parents Involved:
The students run this project on their own. Parents are only asked to support by donating food items.
Additional Student Involvement:
As Stewards of the School, the eighth graders take on a great range of other tasks during the course of the year as directed by their teachers. They are responsible for: setting up for parish functions and school assemblies, providing tech support and leadership for many assemblies, serving hot lunch in the cafeteria, taking out recycling/trash twice a week, managing the Jog-a-thon, and providing academic support and service to classrooms.
To learn more about the collective efforts and inspiring results of the service projects, please review the annual Giving Report.
Dates for and information about school-wide drives and grade-level service visits are posted on the school Liturgy and Community Outreach Google calendar.