Backpacks Delivered to 1st Graders

September 3, 2008, was a special day for the first graders of Sacred Heart School in Roslindale not just because it was the first day of school, but also because they received a wonderful welcoming gift. Mary Sullivan-McNiff, a member of the Inner-City Scholarship Fund Professionals' Team, arrived in their class with backpacks for each student filled with their school supplies.

Ms. Sullivan-McNiff, manager of Services Operations Global Accounts at Advent Software, approached the Catholic Schools Foundation Staff in early summer with the idea of recruiting her colleagues to help buy backpacks and supplies for a group of students. Her coworkers quickly joined in, and the Boston office of Advent Software kicked off its first volunteer project.

Thanks to this effort, Ms. Sullivan-McNiff was able to deliver 35 backpacks filled with school supplies to the Sacred Heart class. As the first graders came up one by one to pick out their backpacks, she couldn’t be happier. The Principal of Sacred Heart School, Monica Halidman, explained that many of the children could not afford to buy backpacks or the needed supplies. In particular, she noted the situation of one girl who is the youngest of 5 children currently enrolled in the school; her parents can barely afford to send them to school let alone get supplies for them.

Mary saw in the smiling faces that her efforts were a success. As the students at Sacred Heart School enjoy their new backpacks and use their new supplies, Ms. Sullivan-McNiff is already thinking about how she can grow the program and offer more backpacks to more students next year.