Since 2009, BMHS students and faculty have participated in an annual “Adopt-a-Child” Christmas program; and, despite the challenges 2020 has brought, this year was no different. Throughout the years, the number of “adopted” children has fluctuated-- ranging from a few dozen to over 120—but all of them have lived in orphanages run by Catholic parishes and/or religious orders across the Mexican border.
And, all of the children have two very special people in common: Sister Margaret Farrell, RSC, the Director of Outreach at the Covenant House California, and Mrs. Laura Fabbri, Spanish teacher and Concordia Service Club Moderator at Bishop Montgomery. Both of these women have been selflessly and continually supporting these children for many years, and with the help of the BMHS community, have ensured the orphanages in Rio Colorado, Ensenada, and Tijuana, Mexico have provided holiday celebrations that every child deserves.
Each year, beginning in early October, Sister Margaret receives lists with children’s names, clothes sizes, and shoe sizes which she shares with Mrs. Fabbri. Mrs. Fabbri then shares the information across the Bishop community, and students, parents, and faculty sign up to buy presents for their “adopted” child. The presents are brought to school and placed in a labeled bag with the child’s name, ready to be transported. It takes Sister Margaret and her team of volunteers a few trips across the border to bring all of the bags.
This September, the orphanage staff contacted Sister Margaret and asked if the pandemic and distance learning would prevent the Bishop community from collecting the much-anticipated Christmas gifts for this year’s 80 children. The project was proposed to the BMHS administration and immediately approved. “Saying no to these children,” shared Fabbri, “was never an option. We were going to find a way to make it happen.”
Via Zoom meetings, social media posts, and Google spreadsheets, students signed up for the gifts—a hooded sweatshirt, warm pants, tennis shoes, socks and underwear, and a toy. These were the five columns on the spreadsheet with 80 rows of orphans’ names that needed to be filled. And, in just a few days, all of the children were “adopted.”
With LA County COVID guidelines and the school campus closed for in-person instruction, Fabbri and the administration needed to create a collection plan that would allow the donors to drop off their items, but stay safe. The BMHS chapel, located at the front of campus and normally used for daily prayer, mass, and worship-- but, now standing empty-- became the perfect location for the drive-through and drop-off procedure.
Once again, via Zoom meetings and Google spreadsheets, students, parents and faculty signed up to come to BMHS and drop off their donations. Following strict COVID protocol, they arrived at designated times and placed their presents in labeled bags that were waiting on the chapel’s pews. It was moving to see how students took their time to carefully place their gifts in the bags, while contemplating being in the chapel and realizing the magnitude of the project.
The significance of the collection point was not lost on Fabbri either. “Here we were, giving glory to God and filling our chapel with gifts for our brothers and sisters in Christ,” she noted. “This chapel means so much to the Bishop community. For decades, it has been a place of holiness, of friendship, of peace, of refuge, of reflection, and, most importantly, of love. How blessed we were to see the fruits of this effort come together in such a beautiful, meaningful place.”
Now that the bags are filled, Sister Margaret and her team will soon begin delivering them to Mexico. Once at the orphanage, volunteers will place the presents in large Christmas gift bags– not the ones used for transportation. The children will have a Christmas celebration in December and receive their presents.
In early 2021, Bishop Montgomery will begin the annual “Easter Project.” Our community will once again collect necessities and holiday treats for all of the 80 children.