Community Service

Convalescent Home Visits

Grades 4, 5 and 6 visit convalescent homes in the La Mesa community during the year on a quarterly basis. The teacher and the activity director prepare a planned activity for students to interact with residents.

Holy Childhood Association

Each year during Lent, a speaker from the Missions Office gives a presentation to the students encouraging them to offer their prayers, personal sacrifices and financial help (coin folders) for the churches work in the Missions. In previous years, money has been donated to the Missions in Africa, Asia, and remote regions of Latin America.
www.helpthemissions.org

Heifer International: Ending Hunger and Poverty

The Christmas Heifer project involves raising money to purchase animals for people in poverty stricken areas of the world. Since 1944 Heifer has helped more than four million families in 116 countries become self reliant by providing them with "living loans" of livestock. People are helped to obtain a sustainable source of income and food. Families are given lasting source of food, (the animals), rather than short term relief.

We encourage students to donate their own money to "purchase" the animals.
Visit www.heiferproject.org for more information.

Catholic Charities

Seventh grade students volunteer at Catholic Charities once a month to help the Food Resource Center.
www.ccdsd.org

Lake Murray Clean Up Day

For several years, St. Martin of Tours Academy has participated in the "I Love a Clean San Diego Day" at Lake Murray. Staff, students, parents and alums are involved with picking up trash left around the shores of the lake. All of the trash collected is weighed and items recorded so that those working to improve our ecology and recycling efforts have some data on how to proceed. Since Lake Murray is the site of our yearly Walkathon, it is especially important for us to maintain the beauty of this particular area.
www.cleanupday.org

Kids News Day

Student Council members participate in this joint project of San Diego Union Tribune and Children's Hospital Auxiliary. Each year students sell 200 of the papers and contribute $200.00 for Children's Hospital and Health Center.
www.chsd.org

Community Appreciation Day

During Catholic Schools Week, cards and expressions of appreciation are given to all the La Mesa service agencies.

La Gloria Hogar Infantil

Eighth grade students adopt a child from La Gloria Hogar Infantil an orphanage in Tijuana, for Christmas. Gift bags of clothes, shoes and other items are purchased for the children.
www.hogar-infantil.org

Beach Clean-up

Seventh grade students visit the Birch Aquarium and spend an afternoon cleaning up the beach.

"Thinking of You" Parish Outreach

Students send greetings to those who are homebound, seriously ill or elderly in the parish community. Each class adopts three or four people. Students also pray for these parishioners as part of their daily class prayers.