Oprah’s Angel Network

O Ambassadors at Most Precious Blood School take a break from working on their activity guides.

Photo courtesy of Most Precious Blood School

Along with clubs across the United States and Canada, the first theme that the O Ambassadors at Most Precious Blood School in Brooklyn, New York studied this year was poverty. From learning that half the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day to exploring how poverty impacts everything from one’s ability to access education to healthcare, students got a sense for what life is like for their peers in developing countries.

Putting their knowledge about poverty into action, this winter club members at Most Precious Blood put together gift packages for needy children that included scarves, toys, pens and food items. Then with smiles on their faces, the students handed out the packages at a neighborhood supermarket one Saturday morning. The students quickly realized that not only did the children welcome the gifts, but they also returned their smiles. Educator Susan Grande says, “The students realized that poverty is not only material but can be spiritual as well. The packages helped the people in both ways as there were many more smiles to go around than when we started.”

Cultural Fair

The O Ambassadors at Most Precious Blood have been busy throughout the year with different fundraising and awareness-raising activities. One of their most successful to date has been a Cultural Fair held in March that celebrated South Asia, the region the club has been studying this year. At the fair, different foods were available for tasting, dances were performed wearing authentic dress and students created informational displays addressing issues from fair trade to child labor.

Out-of-School Programs Director Jim Esposito noted that the fair served another important purpose—to highlight the diversity that exists right within the school. Of the five nuns who teach at the school, four are from South Asia and the fair was an ideal opportunity for them to celebrate their culture and customs with students and fellow educators. Also, the club realized that right within their own school were students representing each of the nine countries they’d been studying: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Catch glimpses of the fair and thoughts from students and educators in this video created by the school’s Videography Instructor.

Giving Back

Mr. Esposito says that Most Precious Blood has always been devoted to service and, as a private school, they’re no strangers to fundraising. But, he says that the O Ambassadors program has made this idea of helping, of volunteering, more personal. He says that by learning about a region in depth, “We have a sense for who these kids are and we want to reach out to them. It’s not just helping a kid in a picture.” And while the club is well on its way to reaching its fundraising goal for the year, Mr. Esposito notes, “Whatever we can raise and give will be second to what the students will learn.”