We intentionally picked the Feast of Saint Nicholas as the day to offer our support as he was regarded for his generosity and over the centuries many stories and legends have been told of his life and deeds. It is his life and example that inspires the tradition of giving gifts at Christmastime today.

As this activity falls in the season of Advent, it offers a curricular component through our Advisory Program. The “Lift-Up Lunch” Service Project was an empathy-building activity that encouraged students to connect the Advent theme of hope to actions of service, while helping another Catholic community near and dear to us in the Santa Rosa Diocese.

According to event organizer, Mr. Stan Cordero who is the Justin-Siena Director of Lasallian Student Life and a proud graduate of Cardinal Newman, “We all hope for a really nice gift at Christmas and try to bring joy to others with the gifts we offer them. But the giving spirit of St. Nicholas was focused on those who needed help. It is in this spirit that we will perform the simple service of making a lunch for someone else. This, coupled with the personal notes of encouragement written by students and staff for each member of the CNHS community, are intended to bring hope to our brothers and sisters who suffer without their campus and many of whom, are without their homes. It is our way to express the kind of giving that St. Nicholas has inspired and to offer a sense of hope to those who need it.”

Our amazing student body packed 680 lunches in about 22 minutes! Once all the packages were prepared they were loaded into the cars of parent volunteer drivers and taken to the four CNHS locations.

We hope that our CNHS brothers and sisters felt our sense of hope for them now and in the weeks and months to come.