Church Leaders
Prince of Peace (POP) Catholic Church’s homework helpers ministry recently gave away over 750 new and like new books to 25 parish children in their tutoring ministry. These students attended the ministry’s free Wednesday evening or Sunday afternoon one-hour sessions that were held at Prince of Peace from January through May. The books were donated by parishioners and the school library, sorted by grade level, and packed into boxes marked with the students’ names. The children were absolutely thrilled to receive the books, just in time for the lazy days of summer.
This new ministry was created to serve parish children of all ages who needed assistance with their school work. Some needed help with sounding out words and some needed help with physics. As the ministry progressed through the winter, volunteers discovered that many of the children did not have many recreational reading books at home nor easy access to the public library. So, a plea went out for books and the parish responded, donating over 750 books between Palm Sunday and Easter.
All the 35 tutoring volunteers were age 21 or older and were required to submit to a background check and complete the Diocese of Birmingham’s youth protection certification program before beginning their duties. Many were teachers, or former teachers, some were university professors. All were generous with their time and willing to share their talents in this new service ministry which will resume its Wednesday evening and Sunday afternoon tutoring sessions this fall. †
