Toys and Joys of Christmas for Sisters and Students

BVMs and Clarke University resident assistants gather for a unique way to share gifts with those in need. 

It wasn’t Christmas morning, but unwrapping toys delighted BVM Sisters and Clarke University resident assistants (RAs) who gathered recently at Mount Carmel in Dubuque, Iowa.

Each person brought a wrapped toy (delivered later to St. Mark Youth Enrichment in Dubuque just in time to be distributed), and after a game of passing gifts left and right, everyone opened a present other than the one they brought.

“There was so much oohing and aahing,” says Irene Lukefahr, BVM. “The best part of it was in the end we knew that we were going to put them all in a basket and they would go to children. There was a real joy in knowing it was going to be given to a child.”

A toy tractor, games, puzzles, stuffed animals, dolls, and art supplies were among the gifts, all purchased for $5 or less in a variation of a White Elephant exchange.

“We all have a little kid inside of us,” says Delaney Dicus, a Clarke senior, so opening a toy was great fun. “Since it is the season of giving back,” it was meaningful to buy toys instead of presents for each other.

Sisters and students have met since the beginning of the semester. They are Prayer Partners, sharing values, ideas, and faith.

I just think it’s wonderful how the relationships are growing and deepening between the students and the sisters.”—Lori Ritz

“I just think it’s wonderful how the relationships are growing and deepening between the students and the sisters,” says Lori Ritz, director of BVM Life and Mission, who planned the event and helped organize the Prayer Partners program.

The gathering came right before final exams began, and sisters prayed for students to do well.

For Delaney and other RAs she talked with, the timing was perfect. “It’s always a good feeling when we’re able to connect with the sisters. There is excitement and positivity when we come here and when we leave.”

That is a mutual feeling.

“I used to teach at Clarke, where I was a dorm counselor and lived on the floor with students,” says Bertha (Dolorose) Fox, BVM, who is Delaney’s Prayer Partner. “To be in touch with someone like Delaney has been wonderful. She’s so good: a good person and a good student. This was a good match. I’m so lucky.”

BVMs and Clarke University students share the Christmas spirit.