Bishop Blanchet Highschool

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be a person of generous, willing service is to be truly a Christ-like figure in our world. Based on our commitment to model Christian values, Bishop Blanchet High School provides service and resources both to the wider community and across the globe.

 

 

The following service opportunities are offered:

St. Vincent de Paul Society - strives to bring Christ's love and compassion to those in need in the Seattle community. Directed by ten senior board members, the Society counts over 100 students as members each year. Major projects for St. Vincent de Paul Society include:

• Annual Holiday Family Partnership, a student-led project that works with local families in need to help them provide food, household necessities, holiday meals, and gifts for the holidays. The program includes a "parents night-out/kid's night-in" event.
• Teen Feed, a local meal program for homeless youth and young adults receives meals twice per month, cooked and served by students.
• St. Martin de Porres Shelter, a local emergency shelter for 250 elderly men per night, receives a home cooked meal once per month, cooked and served by students.
• Annual Hunger Retreat, a student-led all night retreat on campus that draws more than 100 of our students each year who commit to a 24 hour fast, education and advocacy for hunger and poverty issues, and concludes with community service projects in the neighborhood.
• Two large group service projects are offered each year to support local charities. Forty to sixty students per project participate in day-long service work.

Brave Plunge - invites a select group of sophomore students to explore what it means to struggle with the challenges of poverty and injustice. The Brave Plunge includes an overnight experience that simulates an emergency shelter-like environment as well as service work and educational opportunities.

Service Opportunities

Shirts Across America Easter Break trip to New Orleans.

St. Vincent de Paul Society Volunteer Events

Braves in the News

Blanchet High School Vincentians Answer the Call to Serve

By Stephanie Ragland, Council of Seattle/King County

No one is really sure when the St. Vincent de Paul Society was formed at Bishop Blanchet High School in Seattle, Washington—some time back in the early 1980’s. But one thing is for sure—the spirit of our founder, Blessed Frederic Ozanam, has grown over the years at Bishop Blanchet to include more than 100 students and well over 5000 hours of service to the poor in the community this year alone. Programs like the Martin de Porres Shelter, Food Life Line, Teen Feed, and the families served each Thanksgiving and Christmas (through a partnership with nearby parish conferences)—thrive each year in the spirit of our patron, St. Vincent de Paul. There is a variety and balance with which the Blanchet SVdP reaches out to those in need. Not only are meals prepared, food sorted, and families supported, there is a strong element of peace and justice education that takes place within the school and neighborhood community, giving a voice to those issues and concerns of the poor.

As an example, the St. Vincent de Paul Society holds an Annual Hunger Retreat, a student-led all night retreat on campus that draws more than 100 of our students each year who commit to a 24 hour fast, education and advocacy for hunger and poverty issues. Learning opportunities are created through guest speakers, workshops, and service projects. This year, to create a visual, illustrating the death rate of childhood hunger, white crosses were placed in the lawn of the school quad, representing the 1,208 children who die each hour in the world.

One of the more creative projects sponsored by Blanchet this year was the “Parents Night Out/Kids Night In”. Knowing the value of parents being able spend time together as couple, Blanchet worked with the twenty-four families with whom they had helped through their Thanksgiving and Christmas Family Partnership. Children of these families were invited to spend the evening at Blanchet High School playing games, doing arts and crafts and watching movies and eating pizza. Gift certificates to local restaurants or movie theaters were given to parents so they could enjoy a nice evening together.

Blessed Frederic Ozanam once said that no work was foreign to the society. The Vincentians at Bishop Blanchet High School, through there hard work and imagination, live Frederic’s core belief. We here at the Seattle/King County Council celebrate and give thanks for the ministry of our Blanchet Vincentians as well as their faculty moderator, Anne Monica.