St. Peter’s students raise $698 to benefit Habitat for Humanity

Matt Bower
Posted 1/8/15

The seventh- and eighth-graders at St. Peter’s School in Warwick recently donated a $698 check to Habitat for Humanity West Bay and Northern R.I.

Patricia Newman, president of the Habitat …

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St. Peter’s students raise $698 to benefit Habitat for Humanity

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The seventh- and eighth-graders at St. Peter’s School in Warwick recently donated a $698 check to Habitat for Humanity West Bay and Northern R.I.

Patricia Newman, president of the Habitat chapter, said she was approached by a teacher at St. Peter’s in September asking how students could assist the organization.

Although the students were unable to participate in the actual building of a house in Woonsocket on which Habitat is currently working, they still wanted to do something for the organization and decided on a fundraiser.

Taking pledges from friends and family, students built their own homes using milk/cream/orange juice cartons and small cardboard boxes that were decorated with paper, paint, glitter, glue and cloth. A friendly competition was held and the top three creations won prizes, but all students received a ribbon for their participation.

According to seventh-grade teacher Anna Price, who organized the project, Elaine Morisseau, director of Faith Formation for Jr. High and Confirmation at St. Peter’s, came up with the idea for an Advent project called “No Room at the Inn” as a way to get students involved with Habitat for Humanity. Morisseau is also the recipient of the Lumen Gentium Award, a Catholic service award given out annually by the Diocese of Providence to those who are identified as outstanding in terms of their service and who demonstrate commitment to Catholic education.

“The kids were definitely excited on two levels – one, because they are learning about works of mercy and how to conceptualize that in a real world way, and two, they were excited to do the construction of the houses and have a friendly competition,” Price said. “Personally, I was very excited we raised as much as we did. I wasn’t expecting that much.”

Price said approximately 30 students participated.

“This is a good opportunity for students to learn about Habitat,” she said.

Price said Newman inspired several of the students when she came to speak to them about what Habitat does and how the money raised would help the cause. Newman also presented students with a certificate of appreciation for their hard work.

“They were interested in learning about how they can get involved with Habitat when they are older,” Price said. “They are able to learn about works of mercy now, while planting the seed to get involved later.”

In addition to talking to the students about Habitat, Newman also served as a judge.

“We had all kinds of designs. It was amazing to see what they did,” Newman said. “Just incredible in what they did and how they did it. A lot of thought and process went into what they did.”

She said first prize went to a neatly built colonial painted two-tone with cutout windows, furnished and with a roof covered in shingles (individually cut pieces of half-inch black paper), and with a walkway, all of which was propped on a covered pizza box as its lot.

Second prize went to a condominium, which utilized seven milk cartons and was painted red with the same type of roof and landscaped with bushes, which were represented by sponges dyed with green food coloring.

Third prize went to a brown house made with three milk cartons. Its roof was hand-glued in different colored jewels, styled like an estate home, with a nice drawing of an entrance door.

“We had an honorable mention home that was creative in the fact that they had decorated a box as you would for Christmas, [with] a tree and lights and reindeer on the roof,” Newman said. “Each child was very proud of their houses and well they should be. I have to tell you it was difficult to pick the winners. They were all incredible.”

Students who raised the most money included Caitlyn Quigley, Samuel Toth and Vincent Tinaro. Students who were deemed to have made the best houses included Abigail Testa, David Taylor, Abbey Spolidoro, Tara O’Connor and Serena Cook.

Newman said the students really got into it.

“The kids were great, they were so enthusiastic. It was fantastic to see,” she said.

Newman said the $698 check will be deposited into Habitat’s building fund, and the money will be used to assist the building of the Woonsocket home by helping to purchase incidentals such as painting supplies, including rollers, brushes, pans and rags; staples for staple guns; nails for nail guns; lunches for volunteers; cleaning supplies; garbage bags; and many other items.

“We can take this [money] and be very helpful with it,” she said.

When asked how the experience was working with the school, Newman said, “It was a lot of fun, and the people were very friendly and the kids were just great.”

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