Students, faculty and staff come together to help those in the community who are less fortunate.
On Make It Matter Day 2018, students assemble care packages to be sent to U.S. troops overseas.
On Friday, October 5, 2018, all three divisions of Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy came together both on the Pontiac campus and off to "make it matter."
"Make It Matter Day," which is what the school calls the day's event, is an annual opportunity for the more than 1,000 students and their teachers to focus even more on the “Christian persons” and “upright citizens” aspects of the school mission. The goal is to make something useful for people in need in the metropolitan Detroit area and in some cases, in other parts of the world.
Upper division Principal Fr. Joe Hindelang, s.m., has said the faculty, staff and especially the students look forward to this day each year. “It’s a great opportunity for us to put our faith and mission into action as a school community.”
Among the many projects in this year's Make It Matter Day, students worked on making baby blankets for newborns at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, letters for the school's Polyglot Club's Pen Pal Exchange and “miracle boxes,” which are care packages for our troops serving overseas that contain a variety of items, including socks, pocket foods, letters from home and "a whole lot of love.”
Students also made fleece blankets for families in emergencies and for the homeless; stocking caps for needy children and adults; letters for veterans; and cheery greeting cards for the elderly in senior living arrangements.
Much of the activity was off campus, too, as contingents of students from both the middle and upper divisions performed community service at Walton Charter Academy, Oakland County Parks, the Baldwin Center and Grace Centers of Hope in Pontiac as well as at Gleaners, and the Humane Society – Elizabeth Lake Animal Rescue.
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org