Oak Knoll Upper School Faculty Packs 'Sustainable Lunch Bags' for Bridges Outreach

On Wednesday, February 18, members of the Upper School faculty — who teach Oak Knoll’s all-girls middle- and high school students — packed sustainable lunch bags full of nonperishable items for Bridges Outreach. Sustainable lunch bags allow Bridges to use the lunch bags whenever needed, in place of regular lunch bags.

Faculty members met in Oak Knoll’s Grace Hall Chapel for a special Lenten prayer service, followed by the lunch bag assembly line, and then completed with a prayer.

“This was a great opportunity for the faculty to come together in a spirit of generosity while setting an example of service for their students,” said Kathleen Lynch, chair of Oak Knoll’s Theology Department and director of Campus Ministry. “This was a perfect day (Ash Wednesday) to come together to pray, reflect and act on the behalf of others. Working together and sharing conversation was a community building activity for the faculty remembers.”

Since 1996, the Oak Knoll School community has supported the work of Bridges Outreach by delivering lunches, toiletries, and Holy Child Spirit to families in Newark and New York City. Oak Knoll students also visit Bridges and volunteer as part of the school’s annual day of service.In January, Oak Knoll’s second-grade classcollected 274 sweaters for kids, men, and women, large and small, for those in need and who are serviced by Bridges Outreach.

Earlier this year, students from Oak Knoll’s Upper School traveled into New York City to bring meals and clothing to members of the homeless community. Oak Knoll’s Lower School (coed, kindergarten through grade 6) students provided the meals – including sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, snacks, and a drink – which were then delivered, along with clothing items by the Upper School students in an assembly line fashion.