Putnam County Challenge Club practices charity while having fun |
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Written by CONNIE CASSIDY, Special to the Chronicle
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Thursday, 11 December 2008 01:00 |
PUTNAM COUNTY—The girls in the Putnam County Challenge Club are learning that all members should be treated as equals and with great respect.
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Sixth-graders Rachel Rall, right, and Mariah Doepker of the Putnam County Challenge Club entertain Harry Siefker, a resident of Meadows of Kalida. (Photo courtesy of Connie Cassidy)
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This includes always speaking well of others while trying to build each other up. The result is a deepening of their friendship and love for Christ, resulting in the practice of charity in a variety of ways.
The club, which is divided into four age groups, has reached out to groups in its communities through six-week projects.
The fifth- and sixth-graders’ project, “Bringing Smiles to Others,” targeted the elderly and the sick. This energetic group of girls, with the help of their two team leaders, toured Kalida Meadows nursing home to meet residents who would benefit from a return visit. The group then brainstormed ways to bring smiles to those residents’ faces. Ideas included writing letters and making T-shirts for them.
They made a return trip offering these gifts plus the gift of their time and talents. Some girls played musical instruments and others played cards with residents. At the end of the visit the entire group sang songs.
The seventh-graders’ project, “Stork Campaign,” was a redesign of a project they had done last year. The girls made booklets that included a spreadsheet listing baby items needed, from a 10-cent jar of baby food to bigger ticket items, such as a stroller. Then they solicited donations, purchased the items and plan to take them to the crisis pregnancy center in Defiance.
They also incorporated Mary, our Mother, into this project since she, also, was a young, unwed mother. Member Sidney Klausing’s grandmother showed the girls how to make rosaries and each girl got to keep the rosary she made.
Focusing on forming “character” by teaching the girls about true friendship, both positive and negative peer pressure and channeling their emotions, was part of the eighth-graders’ project. They played a friendship game in which each girl wrote down at least one positive thing about the others in the group. The notes were put into a cup, mixed-up and then taken out one-by-one and read. The last part of this project named “Looking Good Inside and Out,” emphasized the physical body. All the girls were invited to a team mom’s home where they had pizza, listened to music, did hair and nails and watched a movie.
Lastly, the ninth- and 10th-graders decided to put on a Mother Appreciation Dinner for their first apostolic project. The evening started with the daughters helping their moms pick out their dresses for the evening. Then they went to confession at Glandorf St. John and attended Mass together. Each of the young ladies had a role in a different part of the Mass. The highlight was Father Harry Brown’s special blessing for the mothers.
Afterward, a dinner was served by the daughters to their mothers in celebration and appreciation for all that mothers do for them. The night ended with a talk by Marilyn Wagner on the true dignity of not only mothers, but all women, which brought tears to the eyes of every mother who attended.
The Challenge Club thanks all the parents of the member-daughters of Christ and all others who support them.
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Connie Cassidy is president of the Putnam County Challenge Club.
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Last Updated on Friday, 06 February 2009 09:37 |
