STUDENTS from Scoil Phádraig Naofa, Rochestown, recently packed 320 Christmas boxes for three local charities Good Shepherd Cork, Rainbow Club Cork, and Ballincollig Family Resource Centre.

Emily Hunt, who is a member of the Parents Association, said the students wanted to support local charities this year.

“We packed a total of 320 boxes. The school have been doing the shoebox appeal every year and this year their motto was that charity begins at home. They just wanted to focus on supporting local charities, especially in Cork. There are a lot of people struggling at the moment,” she said.

“Students from junior infants all the way through to sixth class was involved in the initiative,” said Ms Hunt.

“Another member of the Parents Association Fiona Aherne came up with the three chosen charities Good Shephard Cork, Rainbow Club Cork and Ballincollig Family Resource Centre. She made contact with them. The children brought in the boxes. The individual students were able to pick if they wanted to pack a box for a boy or a girl. They filled the boxes with an item of clothing, a toy or material for school.

“It is a lovely initiative. The three Cork charities will benefit greatly from the initiative. They were so delighted and very appreciative of the generosity,” she added.

Ms Hunt said the recent donation of 320 Christmas boxes to Cork charities is reflective of the great ‘spirit’ in the Cork city primary school.

“It captures the community spirit in the school so well. The school also runs other charity events. It is a great school. The parents’ association would liaise with the deputy principal Anne Marie Kingston for most of the events. Running charity events also helps to instil good morals in the students. We are always blown away by how generous people are any time we run a charity event in the school. People always give so much more.”

Members of the student council were also on hand last Friday to help pack the vans with the 320 Christmas boxes said Ms Hunt.

“We packed all the boxes into a van, and they were taken to the various charities. It was a real team effort.”