All Saints Catholic School Eighth Graders Learn the Value of Community Service

Eighth graders at All Saints Catholic School in Bangor are learning about community service.

They've been fundraising for months to support a charity of their choice.

Doug Fogg, a teacher says, "Each year, the eighth grade decides on a service project that they do to put their faith in action. They decided they wanted to address kids' needs this year."

Katie Vigue, a student says, "We bought stuff to put in backpacks for the Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine. We are going to donate them, so that way when foster kids get taken out of their homes, they can have new stuff."

With a budget of $25 per kid, students hand picked necessities like hygiene items, school supplies, and even some funky looking socks.

Vigue says, "We based it off of things that we would use and just stuff that we thought was cool."

They say filling the backpacks is fulfilling for them, too.

Baxter Cole, a student says, "It feels good to make them happy and be able to go to school with stuff that they need."

Vigue says, "It feels good knowing that other kids our age are going to have the same opportunities that we have."

Fogg says, "We can teach them about the tenets of their faith, but if we don't teach them that it's important to put that faith in action, we haven't really accomplished what we mean to do."

Travis Bryant of Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine spoke with the students about what it means to be a kid in foster care.

He says, "It's really nice to see the young people and the futures of our community come together and recognize that there are needs out there, there are people that are less fortunate."

Fogg says, "We're hoping as they graduate from eighth grade this year and go on to high schools that this continues, they learn to be involved in their communities on a regular basis."