September 11, 2018

Dear Families,

Below is what I posted in this week’s school bulletin regarding our HOPE collection. Some families will be used to the bags being sent home on the Tuesday before we collect food, but for some families this will be new. Whether or not you can send in food to donate to the HOPE program, I ask that you please make sure your child returns their bag the next day each time it is sent home. In kindergarten students should place their food on the center red table on the patio, then turn in the empty red bag to their teacher before following the usual unpacking procedures. We have made tags to help us keep track of the bags. As the teacher who coordinates the bags schoolwide, I want to thank you for your help this year.

                                                             Sincerely,

                                                                    Mrs. Elisa Liljeberg

H.O.P.E. COLLECTION

 A long standing tradition at St. Irenaeus Parish School is our monthly food collection to support our parish ministry H.O.P.E. (Helping People Every Day). A few years ago, the sixth graders who help gather the food from the classrooms noticed a decline in the amount of food being brought in. This decline came after the school stopped sending home paper bags each month for students to put their donations in. The bags served as a tangible reminder, and so reusable bags were then distributed to students. Over the years we have had businesses sponsor bags, families donate bags, classes raise funds to buy bags, and we have had students collect recycling to fund our H.O.P.E. bags. As a result, our bags are varied, but are all for the same purpose. To help us give food to the needy in our own community. Your student will come home with a bag on Tuesday. If you can share any extra items in your pantry we ask you to place them in the H.O.P.E bag and send them with your child Wednesday morning. If you can't that's okay too, just simply return the bag. We ask that you send no items in glass jars. Thank you families for your support of the H.O.P.E. program.