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St. Francis de Sales School in Herkimer is known as "a little school with a big heart" to the central New York refugee community for its holiday generosity.

The school's 114 students, from pre-Kindergarten through sixth grade, spent Advent collecting donated toys and clothing for Utica-area refugee children and their families, according to Sister Jacqueline "Jackie" Johnas, CSJ, who works at the school.

"We took our students and their items to the refugee center and wrapped packages and had a pizza party," said Sister Jackie. "We also took parents and teachers."

It was the second year students at the school have contributed to this project, a program of the Neighbors Network. This network is a joint venture of the Albany province of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees.

St. Joseph Sisters Lynn Abdelnour and Betty Giarrusso also help with the project. Sister Lynn recalled that this year's Christmas items, which helped 20 families, took "three trips and four cars" to transport.

Sister Lynn added that the refugees are new to the Albany Diocese and have come from all over the world, including Somalia and Burma.

The Utica-based Mohawk Valley Resource Center is one of the largest refugee centers in the United States. It reports having helped refugees from more than 30 countries, including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia, China, Haiti, Hungary, Iraq, Iran, Laos, Poland, Romania, Russia, Sudan and Vietnam.

Utica has become a favored destination for refugees and for government and charitable resettlement efforts; currently, 12 percent of the city's 60,000 residents are political or economic refugees.

Sister Lynn was so pleased with the St. Francis students' role in helping refugees that she wrote an article for her religious order's newsletter about their charitable efforts. She titled it, of course, "The Little School with a Big Heart."

Learn more about the refugee center at http://mvrcr.org; read Sister Lynn's article at www.csjalbany.org.

(01/27/11) [[In-content Ad]]

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