Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education superintendent Dwayne Zarichny and deputy superintendent Chuck Hellman volunteered at the local Salvation Army sorting donations during the division's 2021 Faith Day.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
kking@medicinehatnews.com
Staff and faculty with the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education will spend Friday giving back as part of their annual Faith and Formation Day.
March 11 marks the second annual day dedicated to almsgiving, one of the three pillars of Lent.
“In Lent we focus on prayer, fasting and almsgiving; it’s the almsgiving part where we look at giving back and supporting people in the community,” Heather Irvine, MHCBE’s religious education co-ordinator, told the News. “Each school and (the division’s) central office is partaking in a different activity where they go out and serve in the community.”
The day’s festivities begin with morning mass at Holy Family Parish. From there, staff and faculty will disperse to various local organizations, such as the Root Cellar, the Salvation Army, the Mustard Seed, St. Patrick’s Church, Holy Family Parish, among others, and spend the rest of the day volunteering.
“When we can come in and do some of the hard, manual, not-very-glamour work, then (the organizations) don’t have to do that and they can spend more time one-on-one with their clients. I think that benefits them and the clients in their organizations as well,” said Irvine. “It also helps us build connections with these community organizations, where then teachers can find projects their students can become involved in, so that’s a ripple effect of that day.”
“(We hope) to truly serve our community” Irvine said. “It’s a beautiful way to do that any time of the year, but during Lent is a special time in our Catholic faith to really focus on service.”
PD childcare
As another PD day approaches, officials within the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education unveiled the PD Day and School Break Childcare program, launching in the fall of 2022.
MHCBE students in grades K-6 are eligible for the program, which will operate out of yet-to-be-determined school locations. The cost for the program will be $50 per student, per day.
The division is asking interested parties to pre-register for the program online at http://www.mhcbe.ab.ca/programs/childcare.