On a gorgeous, sunny Saturday afternoon, more than 425 parishioners took part in the 8^th Annual Clement Service Day. Our largest group of parishioners yet, the spirit and energy of April 27 was truly palpable. Because of the large number of volunteers, we were able to send 26 teams to 22 different organizations across the city, such as homeless shelters, childcare and youth centers, senior homes, and schools and churches. The type of work varied from site to site, but parishioners completed service projects such as painting, cleaning, sorting, gardening, and entertaining nursing home residents.

During the day at Saint Clement, a team sorted and delivered approximately 60 bags of clothing to organizations including House of the Good Shepherd, Madonna House, Juvenile Court and St. Vincent de Paul.  

For the first time, sixth and seventh graders joined their parents off-site at Our Lady of Charity School in Cicero. Principal Katie Olson remarked, "The work of the volunteers was invaluable at Our Lady of Charity. They did a great job completing various landscaping and necessary cleaning projects around the school."   

Nora Goray, Volunteer Coordinator at Lawrence Hall Youth Services, had the following to say about her team of parishioners: "They were full of energy, eager to help, and great at organizing. We truly do not know how we would have begun to tackle this project without them."  Countless other positive remarks came back from site coordinators, appreciative of the time and energy our parishioners gave.

At Saint Clement School, approximately 60 Kindergarten through fifth graders took part in age-appropriate service projects, and completed a landscape mural in the cafeteria. The younger grades prepared toiletry kits for the homeless at the Night Ministry, made sack lunches for Inspiration Corporation, and put together coloring kits for patients staying at Lurie Children's Hospital. Clothing and travel-sized hygiene products were also donated for surrounding organizations. Third graders prepared and delivered sack lunches to the Lincoln Park Community Shelter, then stayed to create centerpieces for their dining area.   

Fourth and fifth graders played bingo with residents at the Lakeview Nursing Home. Parishioner Bede Swisher visited the nursing home the following week as a Minister of Care, and says that the residents were full of compliments about our wonderful kids. Many of the residents have hearing problems or limited vision, and they appreciated the kindness and interest the students showed when assisting them in the game.   

Throughout the day of service, participants had the opportunity to reflect on what their service means to their faith through an opening prayer service, team reflection off-site, and finally, Mass at the close of the day. The day truly encouraged parishioners to live out our parish stewardship of Pray, Serve, Give.

We are so appreciative of the many parishioners who gave their time and talent to make Service Day engaging: the talented and organized planning committee who assisted with a variety of tasks including setting up sites and coordinating children's activities, the 30 team captains who communicated with site coordinators and teams of volunteers, the site coordinators at the social service agencies we served, the school faculty and staff who gave up their Saturday to spend the day with our parish children, the parish staff for their endless support, parishioners who donated clothing and hygiene products, and all those who represented our parish throughout the city. We are incredibly grateful for the many ways you made this day a success and served in Christ's name.