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Contact: Jenni Brockman Phone: 804-443-3357 Fax: 804-443-6781 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tappahannock (December 20, 2002) - Christmas is a time for giving at St. Margaret's School. Through holiday service projects and events, SMS students, faculty and staff are showing their appreciation for the community. 
Photo left:
St. Margaret's seniors Lindsay Neist and Juliane Kelly, co-chairs of the Basic Needs community service organization, sort through a mountain of warm coats and sweaters donated by SMS students. The clothing will be distributed to local families.
"Learning how to be a good citizen is part of the education for life that St. Margaret's provides," said Community Service Coordinator Mollie Conklin. "Our service requirement, co-curricular activities and residential program teach girls the value of sharing their time, talent and 'treasure' with others." Students in the school's Basic Needs community service organization, for example, spearheaded two service projects this holiday season. Two-thirds of the student body filled more than 100 stockings with toys for distribution to local families through the Salvation Army. Girls also parted with their own warm coats and sweaters in a clothing drive to benefit families served by the Child and Family Development Center of Warsaw and St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Miller's Tavern. In addition, this year SMS boarding students "adopted" families for Christmas through Richmond's Sacred Heart Center. They pooled their own money to purchase gifts for disadvantaged children in some of the city's worst neighborhoods, which they delivered in person last week. Students in St. Margaret's vocal performance groups got into the act--literally--by bringing programs of seasonal music to December gatherings of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, the Tappahannock-Essex Chamber of Commerce and patients of Riverside Tappahannock Hospital. St. Margaret's commitment to the community continues once the holidays are over. While each student must complete 12 hours of approved service activities each year, many girls far exceed the requirement. In 2001-2002, for example, SMS students totaled more than 3,500 service hours, most of them benefiting people in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. |
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