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St. Ann Parish is a shoe-in for helping the needy

Ann M. Augherton | Catholic Herald Managing Editor

Diego, 13, and Bianca Roman, 10, parishioners of St. Ann Church in Arlington, pack their shoeboxes for the needy through the Cross Catholic Outreach “Box of Joy” packing party Nov. 12. ANN M. AUGHERTON | CATHOLIC HERALD

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Volunteers pack boxes Nov. 12 at St. Ann Church in Arlington. ANN M. AUGHERTON | CATHOLIC HERALD

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Heather Bryant shows a small stuffed animal from one of the shoeboxes to Steve Bostian, Cross Catholic Outreach Box of Joy program director, at the Nov. 12 packing party. ANN M. AUGHERTON | CATHOLIC HERALD

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Shoeboxes were piled high on tables in St. Ann’s parish center in
Arlington Nov. 12 surrounded by a flurry of activity. It was a packing party
for Cross Catholic Outreach’s “Box of Joy” program and the boxes — some the
official white cardboard printed with a red ribbon, some clear plastic boxes,
and others with separately wrapped lids and bottoms — were piling up.

Diego Roman, 13, and his sister, Bianca, 10, finished packing
their boxes. “She managed to get much more in than me, and a lot of stuff that
she’d want to get,” Diego said. He loaded his box with Star Wars things,
including space pens and jelly beans, but his favorite item was the NERF gun.
Bianca’s box was more “girly,” as she narrated the items while gingerly placing
them in the box. “A Rudolf book, a stamp set, some lip balm and a pink Paw Patrol
water bottle.”

Heather Bryant, St. Ann’s project leader and drop-off
coordinator, was manning the tables and overseeing a new wave of volunteers in
the afternoon — eight teens from the parish youth group, Invictus, with their
director Diane Phelps. The individual shoeboxes had to be packed into master
cartons and carefully labeled.

Will Rimicci, 14, a student at Bishop O’Connell High School in
Arlington, said it was “a lot of fun to pack them.” His family filled a box
with markers, plastic letter shapes and a stuffed giraffe among other things.

The localization of the program began with Bryant, who said she
was packing boxes for a different charity a few years ago and thought there had
to be a “Catholic version.” She found Cross Catholic Outreach and its “Box of
Joy” project online. She and her family packed a few boxes, but the closest
drop-off center was in Middletown, Md. She reached out to Cross for more
information and asked her pastor, Missionhurst Father Ramel Portulo, if the
parish could participate and be a collection spot. He gave her the go-ahead.

The parish gave out 600 empty boxes during the first week of
October. Bryant’s goal was for 500 boxes to be filled and returned. By late
afternoon Sunday, the count was 485. But by Tuesday morning, more boxes came in
and the total reached 500.

Among the suggested items to pack in the gender- and age-specific
boxes were small stuffed animals, crayons or self-inking stamps, safety
scissors and glue sticks, hair accessories, toothbrushes and toothpaste, hard
candy, and a personal note or photo.

Cross encouraged donors to consider using a 12” by 5” plastic
shoebox, and to include $9 to cover shipping costs.

From Arlington, the boxes will be sent to a warehouse in Florida
and then on to needy children in Haiti, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and
Nicaragua.

Tessie O’Dea, Cross relationship development manager, was on hand
to help out at St. Ann’s. The project, in its fourth year, “really opens doors
for all parishes and schools to work together,” she said. St. Ann also served
as a drop-off spot for the boxes along with St. Theresa in Ashburn, giving
diocesan donors more options.

Cross President Jim Cavnar said in a recent article in the Catholic Herald that the boxes are opened by children
who “very likely will receive nothing else.”

 “We are boxing up and
shipping happiness.”

For more on how the Diocese of Arlington is observing World Day of the Poor Nov. 19, go to arlingtondiocese.org/2017worlddayofthepoor.

 

 

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