Kobza's Komments

It’s hard to believe that we have reached December, Advent and a new liturgical year. I was amazed when I walked into the Dollar Store in late October to get those last minute parts of my Halloween costume to see the Christmas section already up and dwarfing the Halloween section. Advent is supposed to be a time of quiet, joyful preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth. We can get lost in all the hustle, bustle, and commercialization of the Christmas season, and are so busy preparing our homes and ourselves that we forget to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus Christ. For all of the Christmas cheer and joyful celebrations, this time of the year can also be one of the loneliest. What if you do not have any family or friends around? What if you cannot afford even the tiniest gift? What if you do not have a home? We can prepare our hearts by following Jesus’ commandment to Love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34). We can show our love to others through Sharing our Bounty.

This Advent season at OLA we are going to be witnesses to our faith through serving others by sharing our time, treasure and talents in a variety of ways. Staff is supporting Catholic Central’s Santa’s Anonymous program by donating toys for the families. Each week our students will be sharing their time and talent at our Advent celebrations. Please come join in our celebrations which take place the first day of the week at 9:00 am. We are also asking students to Share their Bounty this advent season by following the example of Ella Tyron and giving comfort to others. When Ella was hospitalized in 2016 she turned to one of her favorite activities: coloring.  She discovered that the hospital could not maintain a supply of crayons and coloring books due to cross-contamination concerns.  With the help of her mom, Ella started the Help Color Me a Rainbow project and has solicited donations and has donated thousands of crayons and hundreds of coloring books to hospitals. We are asking students to give comfort to others by creating Christmas cards for their family, neighbors and the elderly. Some of our cards will be going to Streets Alive Mission, our school neighbors and the elderly in homes.

Another way to witness and Share your Bounty is through our Sock Drive campaign that will run from November 28 – December 14.  We are collecting socks that will go to support the following local charities:  Harbour House, Salvation Army, Homeless Shelter and Woods Homes. I was amazed at the generosity of the school community for our Drive Away Hunger campaign and believe there are going to be similar results as on the kick off day, the students had already brought in over 200 hundred pairs of socks. At our Christmas Family Fun Night on the 13^th from 6:00 – 7:30 pm. we will be having a Cake Walk.  People will have a chance to play a musical chairs type game and each round, someone will win a cake. An entry for a round will cost 25 cents and all the money collected will go towards our Sock campaign.  In order to make this game possible we would appreciate any cake donations that you could make for this event. You can send your cake to school on the 13^th or bring it with you for the evening event. If you’ve never experienced a Cake Walk, make sure to pop into the gym as it is one of my favorite, fun events.  If I don’t see you at one of our activities this month, I would like to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas.