St. Mary Parish altar server helps area children sleep tight
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
By Christina Leslie | Correspondent
A young altar server from St. Mary Parish, Deal, is appealing to her fellow parishioners for help in making bedtime for special children a little more pleasant. Isabella Saponaro, an 11-year-old parishioner at the Monmouth County church, has organized a pajama drive through the national Pajama Project to collect warm nightwear for needy children close to home.
“I needed a project for the National Junior Honor Society,” Saponaro, a sixth grade student at Frank Antonides School in West Long Branch, recalled. “I had heard about this project from friends and wanted to do it.” The youngster set up Pajama Project drop boxes at St. Mary Church and sister parish St. Jerome in West Long Branch and publicized an appeal in both church bulletins.
The Pajama Program is a New York-based not-for-profit organization which aims to provide new pajamas and new books to children in need of love and public assistance. Many of the youngsters await adoption while residing in group homes, shelters and temporary housing facilities, or live with their families below the poverty level. Since 2004 the all-volunteer N.J. chapter of the Pajama Program has distributed over 125,000 pairs of new pajamas and new books to children in all 21 counties of the state.
Saponaro is pleased with her fellow parishioners’ response to date. “It’s going pretty good so far,” the altar server of two years reported mid-way through the project. “I have 20 sets of pajamas, mostly for toddlers.” Saponaro plans to transport the collection of nightwear to a shelter in Monmouth County which serves as a Pajama Project distribution point.
The Pajama Project pajama drive began Jan. 17 and will continue through Feb. 2; new pajamas in sizes infant to 18 can be placed in the marked receptacles in the church foyers of St. Mary or St. Jerome Parishes.
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By Christina Leslie | Correspondent
A young altar server from St. Mary Parish, Deal, is appealing to her fellow parishioners for help in making bedtime for special children a little more pleasant. Isabella Saponaro, an 11-year-old parishioner at the Monmouth County church, has organized a pajama drive through the national Pajama Project to collect warm nightwear for needy children close to home.
“I needed a project for the National Junior Honor Society,” Saponaro, a sixth grade student at Frank Antonides School in West Long Branch, recalled. “I had heard about this project from friends and wanted to do it.” The youngster set up Pajama Project drop boxes at St. Mary Church and sister parish St. Jerome in West Long Branch and publicized an appeal in both church bulletins.
The Pajama Program is a New York-based not-for-profit organization which aims to provide new pajamas and new books to children in need of love and public assistance. Many of the youngsters await adoption while residing in group homes, shelters and temporary housing facilities, or live with their families below the poverty level. Since 2004 the all-volunteer N.J. chapter of the Pajama Program has distributed over 125,000 pairs of new pajamas and new books to children in all 21 counties of the state.
Saponaro is pleased with her fellow parishioners’ response to date. “It’s going pretty good so far,” the altar server of two years reported mid-way through the project. “I have 20 sets of pajamas, mostly for toddlers.” Saponaro plans to transport the collection of nightwear to a shelter in Monmouth County which serves as a Pajama Project distribution point.
The Pajama Project pajama drive began Jan. 17 and will continue through Feb. 2; new pajamas in sizes infant to 18 can be placed in the marked receptacles in the church foyers of St. Mary or St. Jerome Parishes.
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