St. Margaret School Kids Care Club National Recognition for Service

St. Margaret School Kids Care Club is the “club of the month’ for May nominated by the Kids Care Club parent organization Generation On (www.generationon.org),
a global youth service movement igniting the power of all kids to make their mark on the world. Its mission is “to inspire, equip, and mobilize youth to take action that changes the world and themselves through service.”

SMS Kids Care Club has been focusing on local community projects since inception when students preparing for their First Holy Communion in second grade planted window boxes at the Mary J. Drexel Home in Bala Cynwyd
through a project called ‘Flowers in Bloom”. The residents were wheeled out to watch the children garden and then they socialized together with punch and cookies.

"Spending time with children is always a welcome and
wonderful experience, but to see their worlds open up and watch them begin to understand that they are making a difference for the better in someone's life
is completely priceless. The Kids Care Club at St. Margaret's School is helping lay the foundation for the children to have a lifelong desire to reach out and
help those in need." Mrs. Kim Petrucci, St. Margaret parent.

The school’s Kids Care Club spearheads service efforts for the local community and surrounding areas. Active parent and faculty leadership promotes planning with student representatives enabling unique age driven
initiatives that bring service rewards to each student involved. Some financial support has been received from a St. Thomas of Villanova Stewardship Grant over
the past two years while St. Margaret parents association supports projects and planning. 

Together, the students have been successful in their mission of outreach this year through several new and rewarding activities: a PJ party and movie night with entrance being ‘a pair of PJ’s’ for the local Mercy
Neighborhood Ministry; hand crafted Christmas cards for parish homebound gift baskets; creating and preparing gift baskets for the homebound with special
handmade ornaments and gifts to warm the heart; numerous canned food drives; annual penny weigh-in for donations to service organizations; preparing food
and meals for Aid for Friends locally; hosting with The Narberth Theater a special showing during Catholic Schools Week for “The Mighty Macs” film, promoting canned goods for admission with a $5 donation to the Narberth
Community Food Bank bringing in over 300 canned goods and $1100 donation; monthly breakfast at Ronald McDonald House, Philadelphia; Treats for Troops
providing personal hygiene items and Christmas cards for the troops from local organizations; participated in creating handmade pillow cases with The Handwork
Studio and 7^th grade students for Children’s Hospital and ConKerr Cancer initiative; and visited St. John’s Hospice to serve lunch and learn about homelessness from one of the Franciscan volunteers.  This month’s activities include hosting a towel and blanket drive for an animal shelter in recognition of Animal Awareness Month and needs to the animal shelters of the area.

“Our Kids Care Club at St. Margaret's School does an
outstanding job under the leadership of the Director, Mrs. Chris Maguire. The students experience real life situations where they are guided to share with others. The parent volunteers are terrific in teaching the children to be
thoughtful, caring and generous to those in need," says Sister Corinne Ritchie, Principal of Saint Margaret's School.

Student leaders are the driving force in creativity for planning the possibilities in service for the grade levels. Their input and participation  "At St. John's
Hospice, I realized how much more help the residents need than I originally thought. I thought they were a little below middle class and just needed meals, but now I know that they need homes and work and some have mental disabilities. I would love to go back and visit again and I plan to continue to serve the homeless in the future." Mikey, 6th grader

To read more about SMS Kids Care Club success through the Generation On – Kids Care Club site visit:  
http://www.kidscare.org/clubcentral/clubsofthemonth/st-margarets-kids-care-club-0

Today, St. Margaret School serves as Lower Merion’s
regional Catholic elementary school, with a student population that includes children of the parish of St. Margaret, St. Matthias, St. John Vianney, Presentation BVM, Our Mother of Good Council, and St. Thomas of Villanova parishes as well as the surrounding community. www.saint-margaret.org