St. Brigid Students put together Care Packages for Soup Kitchen

As part of Catholic Schools Week, students at St. Brigid School in Portland put together care packages to be delivered to the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen. Seventh graders formed an assembly line, filling plastic bags with socks, underwear, toothpaste, deodorant, and other personal care items. The items were donated by teachers, staff, and students and will be delivered on Friday by eighth-grade students.

“Some of these people can’t afford simple things like toothpaste and toothbrushes, underwear or hats or anything,” said Sophia Cartonio, a seventh grader. “It makes me good that we’re giving to these people that deserve more than what they have.”

The school chose the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen as the recipient of the care packages because the director, Arthur Ledue, is a parishioner at Our Lady of Hope Parish, of which the school is a part, and because the soup kitchen’s founder, Colie Walsh, was a grandparent to several students who attended St. Brigid or St. Joseph School. The soup kitchen, located in Guild Hall at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, is the oldest in the state.

The care packages are just one of the service projects St. Brigid students will be doing during the week. They will also be making cards for community members, and on Friday, pre-school students will be delivering cookies to their neighbors.