Social Justice

Holy Trinity fosters an environment where students are encouraged to use their gifts and talents in service to others. Students apply Catholic social teachings to real-world experiences. This is accomplished in a variety of ways. The school conducts food drives to benefit the local community regularly. Student Council sponsors monthly “Free Dress” days for $2.00. These funds are donated to local families or charities each month. They also help out when asked to for special events, like our local LAPD’s Helping Badge Program. Toys, gift cards, and canned goods were donated by our student body to help local families during the holidays.

Our jog-a-thon funds are used to support several charities such as ALS, Diabetes, SIDS, Autism, and several other foundations. Each classroom or grade also has a social justice project that they complete each year. Examples include the following: writing letters to soldiers at Christmas and Valentine’s Day, donating candy to the soldiers in the field, and selling artistic ornaments for Natalie, a student with cancer.

When I first arrived at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, I did not know how much fun I would have that day. We walked in and began to decorate the party room for the families of the CATCH Program, a program for kids and teens with missing, small, or weak hands and arms. As soon as the families walked into the room, the children’s faces quickly lit up with excitement and joy. Everyone sang along to festive Christmas songs and had the chance to meet Santa. The smiles on everyone’s faces made me smile as well.

I am very grateful for the opportunity I had to help so many children have an amazing holiday party. I had an amazing time meeting so many strong and bright kids at the Children’s Hospital. That day will be one that I will never forget.

Projects for Social Justice teach the students to be concerned for the less fortunate. Even though giving money is easy, we need to see where our donations go. Projects at Holy Trinity School have a lesson incorporated in them. For example, 5-1 had a math lesson in their social project, selling baked goods to raise money for the less fortunate. When the school has a social justice project, the students doing it connect and relate with the charity.

In 4th grade for their social justice project this year they had a bake sale. This was to raise money for orphans to help them get after-school programs to give them the education they need. The most popular item at the bake sale was donuts and the least sold item was cookies. They raised a good sum of money from this event.