Local News
St. Ann’s Helps Teens Find Focus Of Christmas
Published: December 23, 2004
MARIETTA—Hundreds of shiny new bicycles lean on their kickstands in the parish center at the Church of St. Ann.
It’s a chilly December evening in Marietta, but St. Ann’s is buzzing. Parishioners walk in the doors carrying large, wrapped Christmas gifts. Others package the gifts into larger boxes.
Outside a large truck awaits its contents—thousands of gifts for needy Georgia families.
St. Ann’s Adopt-a-Family program is a major highlight of the parish’s Advent season. For years, families have been participating, buying gifts, toys and clothes for children and their families who don’t have the money to buy them.
Among the many participants who are determined not to let these families have an empty Christmas morning are dozens of teens who come every year to help package and load gifts and the hundreds more who donate.
Brendan O’Dwyer and his sister, Meghan, are parishioners at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Woodstock but have been helping with the St. Ann’s program for three years. Both became involved through Blessed Trinity High School in Roswell, which the siblings attend.
Brendan spends most of the evening loading the truck and says that helping out needy families helps him to keep his focus on the true meaning of Christmas.
“It’s about giving more than receiving,” he said. “Coming here reminds you of that.”
His sister agrees.
“I just really like coming here to help out because it’s for a good cause,” she said. “When you realize that you are directly helping people, it’s amazing. It helps you to think of others rather than yourself, and really that’s what Christmas is about.”
Like most people, teens often get caught up in the secular happenings of Christmas—the gifts and the shopping—but the teens at St. Ann’s are among many that change the focus to helping others, rather than gaining for themselves.
Lauren Gill, a senior at Pope High School in Marietta, is one of those teens. A parishioner at St. Ann’s, Lauren felt that teens should be able to reach out and help other teens in need and that she and others at her school had an obligation to extend a hand at Christmas. She decided to sponsor 12 children, ranging in age from elementary school to high school students. And then she got her friends involved.
Without assistance, the senior made a spreadsheet that held the names of 12 boys and girls from Rutland School in Athens. Under each name was listed their age, the clothing they needed for Christmas, and the items they “wished” they would receive. Together with her friends in the Pope chorus, Lauren promised and delivered the majority of the items wished for by the children.
Mick Zander, a freshman at BT, almost couldn’t help but be involved in St. Ann’s Adopt-a-Family program. His mother, Pam, has directed the effort for the past five years.
“I’d hear her talking on the phone, talking about kids that just really need a coat. There were all of these sad stories about kids that don’t have a Christmas,” he said. “But just knowing that I’m helping to provide a Christmas for families that don’t even have enough to survive, makes this all worth it.”
Jason Gawron, a freshman at Milton High School and a parishioner at St. Ann’s, said he also tries to remain focused on the real spirit of the season.
“For the past couple of years, my Christmas spirit has come more and more from being around the people I love,” he said. “I also try to pray more often. I pray the rosary. At Christmas time when I pray a lot, I really feel the warmth and love of the season. And being here, helping out, I think brings me closer to Christ and makes for a more enjoyable Advent season.”
Several members of The Georgia Bulletin’s Youth Board are also determined to focus on what’s important during this Christmas season. The following pages contain just a few of their stories.
