Schools throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago are celebrating Thanksgiving by helping the needy. Following is a list of some of the activities in which Catholic schools in Chicago are participating:

St. John Berchmans, 2511 West Logan Blvd., Chicago
The eighth-grade class is sponsoring a food drive to replenish the parish food pantry for the neighborhood. Students collect food daily from each classroom and requested parishioners to bring donations to Mass. When the food drive is completed, each child who donated an item will receive a thank-you note from the eighth grade class. Thanksgiving Mass is Tuesday, November 25 at 9 a.m.

St. Cornelius, 5252 N. Long Avenue, Chicago
The St. Cornelius Student Council is sponsoring a food drive for the St. Stanislaus Soup Kitchen, 1255 N. Noble Street, Chicago. Students in grades K-8 will bring canned goods and non-perishable items to the school community’s Thanksgiving Liturgy, which takes place on Tuesday, November 25, at 9:30 a.m.

St. Helen, 2347 West Augusta Blvd., Chicago
Parents of school children will assist in preparing the food and serve a Thanksgiving Feast to senior citizens in the area surrounding St. Helen Parish. The entire school will be involved in the sharing of the Thanksgiving Feast, which will be held on Tuesday, November 25 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

St. Agnes of Bohemia, 2643 S. Central park Avenue, Chicago
The third-grade students are planning a Thanksgiving prayer service with a special focus on being thankful from A to Z. Students will sing the songs “This Little Light of Mine” and I Got That Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart.” A colorful banner made by the third-graders will be displayed at the assembly. The banner will have a felt cut out of a photos representing each letter of the alphabet. Students will take turns speaking about what they are thankful for and what the photo represents starting with the first letter “A” from the alphabet.

Selected class representatives will take turns delivering canned goods to be added to the school’s food drive. St. Agnes of Bohemia will hold a Thanksgiving Mass in the school gymnasium on Wednesday, November 26 at 9:00 a.m.

St. William School, 2559 N. Sayre Avenue, Chicago
Students have been collecting food items since November 5 for the St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry. Food is collected in baskets and becomes part of the Thanksgiving Mass on Wednesday, November 26 at 8:15 a.m.

St. Francis Borgia, 3535 North Panama, Chicago
St. Francis Borgia students have been collecting food to complete gift baskets to be presented to needy families. All food will be placed on the altar before 8:30 a.m. school Mass on Wednesday, November 26. After Mass, students will load baskets into vans to be delivered.

Good Shepherd, 2725 S. Kolin Avenue, Chicago
The students at Good Shepherd School are participating in the Love Loaf program sponsored by World Vision. Each family is asked to offer one dollar a day from November through December 15 to provide food for hungry children in other countries. The goal is to collect $30 from each family toward this important need. The school’s Thanksgiving Mass is on Wednesday, November 26 at 10:30 a.m.

Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic Schools
The Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago play a critical role in the life of the community by providing academic excellence and faith formation for approximately 117,000 students of many races, faiths and backgrounds in the 283 elementary and secondary schools in Cook and Lake counties. There are more than 6,400 teachers in the Catholic school system who instill values, teach discipline and achieve strong, consistent academic results in the Archdiocese of Chicago's 242 elementary and 41 secondary schools. Visit the Archdiocese of Chicago Web site at www.archchicago.org/schools