The spirit of Thanksgiving is alive and well at St Joan of Arc School!
Many congratulations to St Joan of Arc students who held a Thanksgiving food drive at the school.
Over the course of five days, students collected over 1200 cans of nonperishable food. The cans were donated to Sr Anne Marie Beirne GNSH and her team of volunteers at Marguerite’s Pantry, a non-profit ministry serving the needs of the East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights communities.
The idea for the food drive came from 7th grader Grace McCaffrey, who said: “It was a great success. I am really happy with the amount of cans we collected. Our original target was 400”
Many thanks to Grace and to fellow 7th grader Jiselle Velasco who promoted the drive throughout the school, visiting each classroom to encourage can collection. Students earned a “Pajama Day” for meeting their target. The classroom with the highest number of cans collected – second grade- enjoyed a pizza party treat.
Marguerite’s Pantry, which provides food to almost 500 families monthly, was founded in 1996 by the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, the religious sisters who taught at St Joan of Arc School, Blessed Sacrament and St Leo’s.
Grace’s leadership of this drive should come as no surprise. After all, her grand aunt Sr Mary Patrick McCarthy GNSH, was a Grey Nun, involved with Marguerite’s Pantry and long-time principal of Blessed Sacrament until her death in 2002.
We are sure Sr Mary Patrick would be as thrilled as we are that Grace has inherited her ‘can-do’ spirit!
Marguerite's Pantry 