OLM Advantage: Outreach Opportunities
Altar Serving, Children’s Choir, Four for Four Program, Mobile Loaves and Fishes, Friends of Mercy
OLM students are provided with multiple opportunities to not only enliven their Catholic Faith but also put the school’s mission into practice … so that Mercy may flourish.
Through the OLM Parish, boys and girls in grades 4-8, and through high school, may serve as Altar Servers. Students are trained by the pastor and associate pastor, and commit to serving God’s altar with reverence, respect and a strong commitment. Generally, students are asked to serve 2 or 3 daily morning (7:30 a.m.) masses per month, as well as one to two weekend masses a month. Schedules are printed a month in advance and parents are able to give their preference for the time that is convenient to their families. Parents may contact Father Connors at 401-884-4968 for further information.
The Our Lady Of Mercy Children’s Choir is open to students in grades 4 -8. There is a maximum of 30 singers in the children’s choir. This choir regularly sings at the 9:00 a.m. Mass on Sundays throughout the school year. They also sing for some feast days and holidays. Choir members in the parish school sing for First Friday and other School Masses. There may be other Masses or services for which the children are invited to sing. The OLM Children’s Choir rehearses Wednesday afternoon, 2:45 – 3:30, with supplemental rehearsals Saturday after Mass. Parents may Contact Deirdre Donovan at musicministry@olmparish.org or call 401-884-4968 for further information.
Under the guidance of Sister Jeanne Barry, RSM, OLM’s former Principal, the Friends of Mercy participate in a variety of spiritual and service-oriented projects throughout the year. The Friends of Mercy group is open to students beginning in Grade 4 who wish to learn more about the spirit and life of Catherine McAuley, Foundress of the Sisters of Mercy. Monthly meetings are held after school and usually have a threefold agenda: prayer, a teaching on Catherine McAuley and an activity which connects the students with those in need. Some of the outreach projects include connecting with Mercy run orphanage in Honduras, making Thanksgiving cards to accompany the parish Thanksgiving baskets and raising money to support a family suffering from a fire. Once a week a student reads a quotation from Catherine McAuley during the morning prayer. An ongoing project within the school is raising awareness for the need to care for earth by recycling.
The “4 for 4” program is run by the OLM Middle School during the school year. Students of every grade level are encouraged to bring one non-perishable food item for the four weeks of each month while the school year is underway. The program is a tremendous contributor to the success of the OLM Food Pantry.
Mobile Loaves and Fishes is a new outreach program at OLM School. Every student in the school will have the opportunity to participate. Mobile Loaves and Fishes is a national organization that is dedicated to the mission of providing food and clothing and promoting dignity to our homeless brothers and sisters in need. OLM, we partner with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in East Greenwich, the last Tuesday of each month. Students have the opportunity to work with their prayer partners in another grade and make sandwiches that will be delivered to Harrington House, a homeless men’s shelter in Cranston.