IGNITE Spring 2019 | Page 14

FOR THEIR VICTORY LAP, THESE SCHOOLS JOINED FORCES TO GIVE BACK Out of 49 non-public schools awarded the National Blue Ribbon Schools Award for 2018, four were Catholic schools in Bucks County. Naturally, the four school communities celebrated. Then they decided to use the spotlight to do more. In February, the four winners — Saint Jude School, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, St. Joseph/St. Robert Catholic School, and St. Katharine Drexel Catholic School — joined forces to gather blue-labeled items, in celebration of their Blue Ribbon status. The result? A total of 3,500 items donated to the New Britain Church Food Larder. Here’s what participants took away from the experience. An Opportunity to Serve I believed we needed to do something more. We needed to show the true spirit of Catholic schools and use this as a platform to give back to our community through the spirit of service and giving. It was important for us to be examples not only of academic excellence, but also of Christian service in hopes that schools everywhere would follow our lead and give to others. Daniel Clifton, Director of Advancement at St. Katharine Drexel Michelle Stetler, Director of Institutional Advancement at Our Lady of Mount Carmel 14