It won’t be long before a contingent from Red Bank Catholic High School will head to Washington D.C. to receive a very prestigious award.

The school has been selected as one of the five nominees for the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception’s Charity and Social Service Award to be presented during the noon Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15.

The biennial honors program was established by the basilica during the 2009 jubilee year which commemorated the 50th anniversary of the National Shrine’s dedication, to honor “charity and action” as urged by Pope Benedict XVI to the youth of the nation during his apostolic visit to the United States in April, 2008. The first-ever Charity and Social Service Honors Program, held during the 2009-2010 academic year, yielded 21 worthy nominations from which honorees were selected.

Dioceses throughout the country participate by selecting from among local submissions of student-produced multi-media video, PowerPoint or slide show presentation with a maximum length of three minutes from a student or high school group demonstrating their efforts to perform Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

The video that Red Bank Catholic produced highlighted the commitment that the entire school community has demonstrated in serving those in need locally, nationally and around the world.  Among the clips and reflections the video featured included the school’s mission club, which was the first high school mission club in the United States to establish an official affiliate with Maryknoll. Other outreach efforts included the National Honor Society which sponsors food drives and collects sleepwear for sick children; the dance and theatre department hosting performances to raise money for missions, and the art students learning how to sew and make clothes for children in developing nations. There was also acknowledgment of the group of students who spend their Easter break in New Orleans where they help to rebuild homes that were destroyed in natural disasters.