"Stocking the Inn"
July 2004
Good Evening.
I am a fifth grade student at St. Leo’s School. I am a Junior Girl Scout and I will be presenting my Bronze award project. I have chosen to do a service project to help St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia after reading the Mychal’s Message newsletter that I received from a family friend, Kelly Lynch. The Inn ministers to over 300 people daily including children. I decided to help the children by providing them with daily items that we all take for granted like toothpaste, toothbrushes and shampoo.
I started by making a letter asking for donations to be put in my school’s packet. I met with the principal at my school to have the letter approved and get consent to have it included in the packet as well as distributing the flyer to friends and family for donations.
The next step was deciding where to put my donation box. I placed it in the lobby of my school. Then after it was put in the lobby the donations started to pour in. I was amazed at the amount of stuff that came in day by day. I would check my bin every day and items just started to arrive.
Then after a good amount of items came the next step was to assemble the packs. I scheduled a meeting with Mrs. Lynch and she gave me the instructions on how to assemble the kits. I had to put in a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, and donated books. I also had to include a holy card of Fr. Mychal Judge in whose memory I was doing all of this hard work.
After making all the packs, I was shocked to discover that I collected enough items to put together 121 children’s packs for my Bronze award project.
I then made a thank you letter that was distributed through the school packet thanking everyone for their kind donations.
When my packs were done, I contacted Mrs. Lynch again. I decided to then help her pack some of the other packs she was making. I helped pack ladies packs, feminine packs, and goodie bags of candy for the homeless.
The next step was to wait for the delivery date of the items I collected on July 4, 2004.
I loaded our van the night before with my packs to head to Philadelphia with my family and the other people from Mychal’s Message.
When the day arrived, we were off to Philadelphia. When we arrived at the Inn in Philadelphia, I felt a mix of excitement and a bit of nervousness. We met with the group outside of the Inn and started with a prayer. Then the unloading of the vans began and when I handed my packs to help with stocking the Inn, I felt proud. I was allowed a special meeting with Fr. Michael Duffy, the priest who runs the Inn. That was a real honor and he blessed me and thanked me for all my work.
I felt good when I saw all those people happy with what we had brought to help them. It was now time to set out the table with all the goodies we had brought for the July 4th holiday. It included donations of baseball caps, goody bags, ice cream, flags and gifts for the children.
I was in charge of helping my family pass out lemonade on a hot day to all
the people who had come to the Inn that day. I got to meet some interesting
people that day that made me realize the importance of what a glass of
lemonade made in their life and how kindness to these people can go a long
way. I also felt bad for a baby that had no hat to protect her from the sun
and her only drink was the lemonade we gave away that day.
I left Philadelphia that day hot and sweaty but feeling like I had made a difference in someone’s life if only for one hot day in July.
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This page was last updated on: June 4, 2005.
Mychal's Message, Inc. is registered as a charitable organization with the Department of State's Bureau of Charitable Organizations under the Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act, 10 P.S. Section 16.2 et seq., and is authorized to solicit charitable contributions under the conditions and limitations set forth under the Act. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of State, Bureau of Charitable Organizations