By Anne Marie Amacher
DAVENPORT — Even though the Congregation of the Humility of Mary’s motherhouse is next door to Assumption High School, many students have no idea what the Sisters do. “We only saw the sign every day on our way to school,” said Erin Monroe, a senior at Assumption.
When Erin and classmate Rosey Coryn received a religion class assignment to help an organization in the community, they began looking into what their neighbors do for the community.
As part of the assignment, the students needed to complete at least 10 hours of service. “We also had to make plans to help the organization’s efforts in the long and short term.”
The two high schoolers knew of a local organization that helped people and learned that the Sisters of Humility had many ties to that ministry.
“We wanted to help people who were willing to help those right here in the Quad-Cities,” Rosey said.
When she talked with her parents about helping the community, her mom, Jane, suggested the Humility of Mary. Her parents also provided an idea for raising money. They had seen a friend of Rosey’s selling glow sticks as a fundraiser at an event they attended and thought that was a brilliant idea. Her family suggested selling glow sticks at football games to raise money.
Rosey and Erin notified the Sisters of Humility of their plans prior to their fundraising adventure. “They wished us luck,” Rosey said.
She and Erin searched the Internet for deals on glow items. They found a company that sold glow necklaces and bracelets in bulk. So they ordered 1,000 of each. Over a span of five home football games, the duo sold 600 necklaces for $1 each and 700 bracelets for 50 cents each. Later they sold three necklaces for $2 and three bracelets for $1.
“At first we were worried how football fans would react. Would they want to buy these? When we discovered people loved the idea, we realized we were going to raise a lot of money,” Rosey said. Although they did not sell all of the necklaces and bracelets, the girls didn’t dwell on the actual amount raised. “Any contribution to their good works satisfied our expectations,” Rosey said. Four months later they delivered a check for $1,075 to the Sisters.
Lisa Martin, communications director for the Congregation of the Humility of Mary, said the check was “a delightful surprise. Who would have thought they would make that much selling those items.”
The Sisters plan to use the money for various CHM ministries.
Rosey said the leftover glow bracelets and necklaces might be sold by the student council for prom.
