St. Patrick’s students deliver blankets to ‘shut-ins’ who need help
Blankets 1
Photo courtesy of Carrie Gallagher
Photo courtesy of Carrie Gallagher
Annabel Hancq and her grandmother, Mary Ann Hancq, make a fleece blanket together at St. Patrick’s School.
Blankets 2
Photo courtesy of Carrie Gallagher
Photo courtesy of Carrie Gallagher
Thomas McVey and Kona Bloom, students at St. Patrick’s School in Canonsburg, make fleece blankets.
Photo courtesy of Carrie Gallagher
Noah Farley and Ashley Fleming, students at St. Patrick’s School in Canonsburg, make a fleece blanket.
CANONSBURG – Students at St. Patrick’s School in Canonsburg are learning a new subject – compassion – by lending a hand.
Carrie Gallagher, a second-grade teacher who lives in Peters Township, recently started a new after-school group called Helping Hands. Their mission is to visit and serve community members who are “shut-ins” and can’t get out of their homes on their own.
“The whole purpose is to bring the school community together closer to the Canonsburg community,” she said. “To let people know that our school is needed and we practice our Catholic faith by helping others.”
Their first group meeting was held Jan. 21, when 27 students in grades second through eighth made 16 fleece blankets. They delivered the blankets last Friday to parishioners in the Canonsburg, Houston and Bridgeville areas.
“The people we’re delivering to are people the parishes are currently caring for – people who are receiving communion at home because they can’t get out,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher came up with the idea for the group in December, after a discussion with her parents, who live in Columbus, Ohio. She said her father was ill around Christmas, but his spirits were boosted when a group of Catholic school children visited him and sung carols to him. Gallagher decided St. Patrick’s would benefit from a similar outreach program.
“We’re trying to teach the students service,” she said.
So far, she’s received positive feedback from the school, the students and the community. The churches donated the fleece for the blankets and parents volunteered to drive the students to deliver them.
“The parents and school are thrilled,” she said. “They’re always looking for service opportunities for our kids. People were very excited to get the blankets.”
The plan is to make some type of craft each month and deliver them to parishioners. Next month they will make frames with a Celtic prayer and shamrocks in it.
“The goal is to actually sit and visit with the person for a little bit and let them know that they’re valued,” Gallagher said.