Recently, St. Williams Parish in Waukesha found a unique way to raise funds for La Sagrada Familia. In doing so, they also found a simple way for children in their parish to understand how their efforts could impact their sister parish.
When Does a House Become a Castle?
Written by Kay Hokans, Child Minister
St. William Parish, Waukesha
For Lent, 2008, the CF children at St. William Parish in Waukesha set out to rebuild homes and rebuild hope through collecting money for our Lenten charities, including La Sagrada Familia. We knew that there had been extensive damage…following Hurricane Noel in October. In fact, the storm damage ruined most of the seven latrines that St. William Parish had just recently provided for them. Pictures from the Archdiocese and from St. William parishioners who visited the area showed us just how extensive the damage was.
It came to our attention that each cement block they would use in their rebuilding efforts would cost them about $0.60 USD. In order to make a visual presentation to the children about how our money could help people in a far-away place, we decided to use building blocks to show how a house can grow, one block at a time. Earning Mega Blocks (and the rationale that a Mega-Block would be $1.00 for our purposes), for each dollar donated, children added to our house throughout Lent. As children brought in their dollars, one at a time, they added another block to the house. Finally one young man stated, “This is beginning to look like a city!”
Well, we didn’t get to build a city, but we watched our humble house grow into a castle. We also learned that we can help others even if we can only give a small amount. When people work together, great things can happen!
Through our Lenten dollars, we at St. William Parish hope to help our friends and neighbors at La Sagrada Familia rebuild homes and rebuild hope.
In total, 484 blocks were purchased and used on the house.
04/29/2008