Thirty-some red wagons systematically parked against the wall, stand ready to assist with an annual, monumental mission. The childhood transport vehicles soon will play a key role in an intermodal logistics operation to be executed primarily by schoolchildren. Each little red wagon, pulled by a student with the crest of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School stitched on their shirt pocket, will acquire their learning this day, not in the classroom, but in the real world.
The adult parishioners of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church will provide the resources for a complete Thanksgiving meal delivered to 480 families this season. The schoolchildren are playing a major role this year as they have done for previous years. They will learn not only how to handle and distribute 29,950 pounds of food with military style precision, but more importantly, do so to help their fellow man.
Joseph Miller is one such student who will be on hand for this year’s Thanksgiving Basket Building Day. As one of the older students assisting, Joseph has plenty of experience with this major project. In the past, Joseph has served as a bread loader, insuring each loaf he handles is not squeezed too much and gets to the right place.
Basket building to help the poor in Hamilton County is truly an “all-school” project, with each grade accepting responsibility for key roles. Even the youngest of the workforce, while not able to hoist a turkey or fire brigade style transfer gallons of milk from point A to point B, the kindergarten classes provide the personal touch and a little love. Each family will receive alongside the fixings for the perfect Thanksgiving feast, a handmade card extolling greetings and an expression of God’s love.
The sixth graders show up armed with scissors and heavy-duty tape. They make flat cardboard into containers to hold the food and ultimately be delivered to the recipient’s home by an OLMC family. The junior high students are in charge of unloading the contents of the refrigerated trucks into the storage building. Fourth and fifth graders pull the wagons and transport the food across a vast parking lot from the storage building to the assembly hall. Third graders prepare packets with valuable information about the various county resources available for people in need.
All of this for people they do not know. A good lesson not found in a textbook. Good day, Carmel.
