Thousands of Saint Albert the Great parishioners put their faith into action for the annual Parish Service Day weekend celebrated this year on Oct. 11 and 12.
The annual event, which netted more than 2,200 participants, invited members of the parish and larger church community to pick and perform a designated service project from a list that included tasks such as serving meals at Cleveland-area hunger centers, cleaning up local parks, beautifying area non-profits, delivering meals to homebound residents, crafting fleece blankets for children checking into homeless shelters and assembling earrings as a special present for women undergoing chemotherapy. In total, there were close to 200 project sites and tasks a volunteer could choose from.
The event, a perennial favorite in the community, takes months of planning and coordinating job sites and liaisons, but the generous response from parishioners always makes it worth the effort and a true demonstration of the Roman Catholic faith.
“When you see all the energy going on at this campus and off-site, it’s a pretty cool feeling,” said Denise Bobulsky, Saint Albert the Great services and volunteer coordinator. “We know ‘what so ever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me.’ It is what we as Catholics are called to do. When I was hungry, you gave me food, I was naked, you clothed me. It’s what it’s all about.”
Sister Mary Jean Raymond of Saint Aloysius and more than 50 of her students visited Saint Albert the Great School and worked together with local students in the building’s state-of-the-art Learning Commons area. The two groups of school children produced a newscast, created three-dimensional objects and performed computer coding.
“Our kids have the day off from school today and they chose to spend their day off here at Saint Albert’s learning from one another,” Raymond said. “This has really broadened their experience and it shows them what’s possible for them in the future.”
Parishioner Grace Blazak of North Royalton performs a different service project each year at the event and chose this year to assemble blankets for children as part of the “My Stuff” bags initiative of Christ Child Society of Cleveland. Bags are packed with fleece blankets, clothing, hygiene products and other items and distributed to children in shelters. The hand-crafted blankets are a popular service day project because it’s a task parents can perform alongside their children.
The Dolan family has signed up for the blanket project every year and it continues to be the family’s favorite act of volunteerism.
“Kids like their comfort items and our kids here are very fortunate and it’s nice for them to give back and spend a day doing something nice for someone else,” said mom Laura Dolan.
Friends and parishioners Brandi Rucinski of Broadview Heights and Jennifer Dombek of Strongsville gathered with their children, who are classmates at Saint Albert the Great, to assemble fleece blankets. The friends took advantage of the warm, sunny afternoon and sat outside near a statue of Mary the Mother of God cradling Jesus.
“My kids always loved having their blankets and in fact still sleep with their blankets from when they were babies, so I know how a blanket really becomes something a child cherishes,” Rucinski said. “This is a service project they can relate to.”
Spanish teacher Bradford Dorland oversaw a group of students who assisted with a senior lunch and games of Bingo. Students participated by serving, busing tables, greeting attendees and calling out numbers.
“They’ve really done a nice job, and this is a great way for our young people to reach out to the larger community,” Dorland said.
While many projects carry over from year to year, some new service sites were added, like New Avenues To Independence, Kids’ Book Bank Little Free Library, Cleveland Metroparks and various assisted living facilities. Students at Saint Albert the Great at Assumption Academy also teamed up to perform service projects as part of Parish Service Day weekend.
By SARA MACHO HILL
Contributing Writer