Week 4: Our Lady of the Lake and St. Catherine of Siena-Monday

 Agape has fun playing with the children at a migrant camp. We made slime, did face paint and friendship bracelets with the kids. The kids were extremely excited to see us because some of them don't typically play and be kids because they are always watching siblings and taking care of the family.

In the morning we did a game with puzzles representing the kinds of unfairness you see in the world. For example some had half of their puzzle missing while other groups had a really easy full puzzle, which represents how some groups/families in modern society have to work harder than others. 

Thank you for all your support and donations! Check back on Wednesday to see how many families we were able to serve!   - Agape Staff

We had a blast collecting food for our food bank.

- Emma G. 

-Beckett M.

One of our Agape groups at a Bellingham Haggen!

Week 4: Our Lady of the Lake and St. Catherine of Siena - Sunday

We were all excited as we gathered in the St. Catherine's parking lot. All of us were ready for the six day service trip in Bellingham. We enjoyed the scenery on our two hour drive up to Boulevard park, God has given us such beautiful land! When we arrived at Boulevard park we ate a tasty meal, while enjoying the beautiful water in Bellingham. At Sacred Heart we helped load donations into the church basement. We all then participated in a meaningful prayer service. From all that we can see now, we are in for a week full sacrificial Godly love. Oh, and fun!

Week 3: Eastside Catholic & Our Lady of Fatima & St. Mary Anacortes-Wednesday

Hi everyone I am Will Schimmelman from Our Lady of Fatima parish, Today we got up and went to cash and carry to get  a bunch of big bags of food to bring to the food bank. We then set up for it, and I was on the top Ramen station and it was great to see all the little kids seeing all the families collecting their things. It got repetitive but was still kinda fun. I believe I got closer to Jesus today.

Hi, I am Erik guzman and I'm from Saint Mary parish. Today I got up and set breakfast, got ready, and ate early. We then went to church and prayed the rosary. We then loaded up the trucks with all the food and diapers we had collected for the food drive. We then went to the food bank and set up all the tables and food. We sorted all the food. I was in charge of bandages and heat pads. We stayed there for the rest of the day from before lunch until about 5:00. We then packed up all the leftovers and tables and came back for dinner. We had reflection circle afterwards and talked about the gift of piety.

Hello, I'm Kasper Kelly from Eastside Catholic school. Today was the day we finally got to see how our work, from earlier this week and the past, benefited the people we were trying to help. Today we got to set up the food bank and hand out our donations to the migrant workers and their families. We started by filling up the trucks, buses, and cars with food, toys, and hygiene products to bring to the food bank. We drove to the designated location and set up the food bank. Many people arrived to the food bank an hour to an hour and a half before we started letting people pick out goods because they wanted to get the products they wanted before they were taken. After lunch we opened the food bank and got to work. We had jobs to help people carry their boxes, jobs to tell people how much of each item they could take and more. After a couple hours, the food bank was over and it was time to pack up and head back home. Once we returned to the church for dinner and reflection circle, the counselors asked us to try and guess how many families we served. A lot of people thought we served about twenty to thirty families. The counselors then told us that we had served a total of one hundred and thirty-four families in total. Many of the children including me were surprised with the numbers. Overall, it was a fun experience for all of us; and we even found ourselves bored when we came back to the church and when we had no job to do at the food bank. I hope everybody in the world who has come to serve others can feel the same way did today at the food bank.

Today we were able to serve 134 families! Thank you all for your support and donations. Without you, this wouldn't be possible! - Agape Staff

Week 3: Eastside Catholic & Our Lady of Fatima & St. Mary Anacortes-Tuesday

Today  at  five am we woke up to go to the blueberry farm and Sam's farm. At the blueberry farm, we weeded and picked the blueberries and we really wanted to feel like we were relating to the struggles of the migrant workers. I picked twelve pounds of blueberries today and just to think that you're supposed to get 500 pounds of blueberries per day for 75 cents per pound I was blown away. This showed me how the migrants struggle with daily life and care for their families. At Sam
s U-pick strawberry farm, we didn't harvest, but instead weeded the strawberries. We saw Jesus at Sam's when we saw that the one potato grew a potato plant out of itself to grow other potatoes. It sacrificed its life for others like Jesus.
-Spencer, Maureen, Gio

While the farm we worked at pays 75 cents a pound, most farms pay only 32 cents.
-Agape Staff

Week 3: Eastside Catholic & Our Lady of Fatima & St. Mary Anacortes-Monday

One of today's group at Haggen

       Hello, my name is Allie Treacy (co-written by Ellery Norton.) Today, was packed full of experiences that will shape us through out the week (and probably life ;)). Some memories will last a long time, like a girl i met at the migrant camp. She came galloping up to me and hugged onto my side as if we were old friends, the she demanded "Give me a piggy ride!" She jumped on my back and ordered, "Run to the playground and jump the small white fence." i tried. The afternoon was spent with "piggy rides," swinging, and making lanyards My friend Ellery told me after we left, "At one point I was playing  soccer, me being a defender took the ball from a unusually small eight year old, To which he responded, "Why would you steel the ball from a little kid!?". My face said it all, but its okay we laughed about it later."
      Later after a quick break our group broke off and we all went tabling at different stores, there were plenty of kind people, but there were a few people who were kind of rude. However, there was one lady who really stood out to me, she listened patiently to our speech about where the food was going and who was benefiting from it and when she came out of the store she had two bags of food and baby supplies and she left, she gave us all hugs and said we inspired her for the future. We left with our carts and our hearts full!!
     Once we returned to Sacred Heart everyone helped store the food and then quickly filed inside ready for our food, as it had been a long day and all we wanted to do was eat and then fall right asleep!!!
   

Thank you for your donations today! Check back here on Wednesday to see how many families we were able to serve with your help. - Agape Staff

Week 3: Eastside Catholic & Our Lady of Fatima & St. Mary Anacortes - Sunday

Hi, My name is Micah Apple, yes, apple like the fruit, yes your apple/fruit joke was hilarious.  Today we arrived at agape and delivered the donations we had collected and headed into the church.  First we played some games, like: "get in a line in birthday order without talking" THAT was interesting.  after that we played some get to know you games we listened to the same bible verse three times and the third time we had to put ourselves in the verse.  I was a bystander as Jesus got baptized and it honestly helped me see it in a different way.  I saw Jesus as a person and not some imaginary being. Today was fun, but uneventful. -Micah 

Hello. My name is Ellery Lorraine, well technically Ellery Norton. Me  along with eight other children and four teachers, we boarded a miniature bus with mediocre air conditioning and 90 degrees as the temperature.. Me being an eight grader i boarded the bus with three seventh grade boys i did not know. As we got on i-90 with Anne-Marie 2002 blowing from the speakers and a chaperone dancing, we quickly became aquanticis which, the hope is to blossom into friends throughout the week. Then me and another girl, attempted to avoid bonding opportunnities with other kids, however we got stuck making a motion and are name in front of the group. However, these"bonding situations ended up being, well fun. Then started the reflections,m we first were read the bible verse, Peter 4:10. We found what this meant to us. To Nolan Wright an eight grader at Eastside Catholic said, "I had time to reflect on my two giving handsI am going to use this week. I will try to be an example, and follow the example of St. Francis my schools Saint, and the camps Saint, St. Clare". Today was the intro to the week and it seems that is looks pretty great. Thanks for reading to the end. -Ellery Lorrainre

Week 2: Sacred Heart and Mary Queen of Peace-Thursday

This morning we ate the most delicious blue berry bagles then started to pray the divine mercy chaplet, then went to mass at Assumption. We came back and ate a homemade lunch of chicken, beans, and rice. Not long after we left to go to the pool and spent time at the pool until 2:00pm. Later we went straight to the Sunrise Camp to play and set up a  BBQ with the families. After a fun filled day we had closing prayer and ice cream.

Week 2: Sacred Heart and Mary Queen of Peace- Wednesday

 Today was a very special day, we had our food bank. We got to serve many families from different camps and were able to make a difference. We had fruit, produce, higene items and much more. Today was my favorite day. we got to see all the work we've put in this week finally pay off. being able to see the joy in all the migrant workers faces was estatic and very effectual. it was a satisfying feeling when we got everything put away after the food bank and seeing how much food was given out. we served 111 families today! we have collected all donations and put a lot of hard work we have put all our sweat, and tears but it was totally worth it and I am happy to say that agape has been a very meaningful experience.

Thank you for all your donations and support! Our group served 111 families this week!