On Tuesday, La Salle Institute’s Student Senate delivered Thanksgiving food related items, including Turkeys, to the Unity Church based in Cohoes to provide a full Thanksgiving meal for one hundred families in need. It has been an annual tradition for La Salle Institute, especially its students , to donate enough money to provide Thanksgiving meals for those in need.
The La Salle Academy, Providence, Community celebrated Thanksgiving by extending itself in service in a number of different ways.
The Social Concerns Committee headed by Cheryl Williams and Leslie Martinelli collected $8,000.00 through a school-wide dress-down day that was used to assist local agencies that feed the poor, including local soup kitchens plus the Diocesan homeless shelter and heating fund. Food cards were also purchased and given to families in need.
Lasallian Youth volunteered on the Monday evening before Thanksgiving at a local soup kitchen.
In addition, throughout November Lasallian Youth collected “gently” used winter coats. On Friday November 29, the day after Thanksgiving (not the typical “Black Friday” activity), sixteen students accompanied by teachers Beth Deacutis and Pat Ducharme and campus minister Christine Estes delivered the hundreds of coats that had been collected to the State House lawn to culminate La Salle Academy’s winter coat drive. The students filled seven truckloads of coats at the school. La Salle joined other schools and churches from around the state in this annual event. Students helped to distribute the coats to individuals and families in need at the State House. The Providence Journal reported: A bunch of students from La Salle Academy, a Catholic school in Providence, were busy unpacking boxes and hanging coats on racks. Their religion teacher, Patricia Ducharme, said the teens collected hundreds of items during a coat drive at their school. “This is part of our mission,” Ducharme said. “We’re a consumer society. It says something to see this happening across from this huge mall.”
The PALS organization (Parents Association of La Salle) got into the Thanksgiving spirit as well. On the Friday before Thanksgiving, parents demonstrated their generosity and service. Under the direction of Diane Silva Pimentel and Deb Hill, La Salle was able to provide food and toiletries to a large number of individuals in need. The amount of pasta, meatballs, fruit, sandwiches, chips, desert snacks, toiletries, and clothes that were donated was truly impressive.
