Lent gains special meaning for Utah kids


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KEARNS — Students at Kearns-Saint Ann Catholic School have been working together on a charity project that takes on special meaning not only to them but to the community they're trying to help.

The school’s principal said the students are taking this project personally.

“During the Lenten season, we try to pray more, fast and alms giving,” said Shirley Redle, principal of Kearns-Saint Ann.

Lent is a season where Christians, particularly Catholics, focus on simple living, prayer and fasting in order to grow closer to God. Lent starts every year on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday.

“You can donate time, you can donate money,” said Christina Dignam, a kindergarten teacher at Kearns-Saint Ann. “Here we decided to gather our goods and donate to the Indian Urban Center.

Seventh-graders like Ronata is participating by gathering “toothpaste, shampoo, lotions and toothbrushes,” she said.


"You can donate time, you can donate money. Here we decided to gather our goods and donate to the Indian Urban Center. -Christina Dignam, a kindergarten teacher at Kearns-Saint Ann.

Kearns-Saint Ann students are already living the type of lifestyle central to the Lenten season — the simplicity of life and other life lessons that can't be taught.

“They’ve stowed away bags of items they’ve collected and saying how excited they are to donate,” said Dignam.

Kearns-Saint Ann is one of the most diverse schools in Utah, and teachers there describe the school as “the little United Nations school — work together.”

One quarter of the student body are refugees and understand what it means to go without necessities.

Redle told how one student’s family lives on meager supplies.

“One little boy in class said, ‘When we go shopping we only buy two bars of soap for the month and those two bars of soap take care of us for the whole month,’ ” Redle said. “ ‘So, I asked my mom if instead of using two this month, we could just use one so that I could bring in one to share with somebody else who didn't have soap.’ ”

In one class assignment, teachers asked the children to write thank-you letters to God.

“She wrote ‘Dear God, I'm thankful for clean water. The water we had to drink in Africa was brown and things moved in it but that's all we had, so we had to drink it,’ ” said Redle.

Students at Kearns-Saint Ann Catholic School have been gather goods to donate as a project for Lent. (KSL-TV)
Students at Kearns-Saint Ann Catholic School have been gather goods to donate as a project for Lent. (KSL-TV)

Teachers at Kearns-Saint Ann noted that their students and their families are sacrificing a lot during the Lenten season.

One student said she learned about charity from her grandmother.

“My grandma, she took the stuff they (charitable groups) gave us, some of the stuff they gave us, and then I brought it here,” said Jamilah, a second-grader.

The students are learning about “social justice, working together, working for something, and it allows them to have that pride,” said Dignam. “For them to be able to donate something is a lot for those kids.”

When giving alms means sacrificing the little you have to donate to others, some of life's lessons can only be experienced or felt by the simple gestures of a child.

Jamilah said she gives even when it’s a major sacrifice for her family because she knows it’s important to help people and help the community.

“Lent is like maturing and growing up, following in Jesus' footsteps,” said Jamilah. “I feel wonderful.”

Contributing: Nkoyo Iyamba

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