The Christ Child of the Western Reserve chapter has provided vision screening services for Lake County preschool children ages 3 - 5 years old for over 20 years. Currently almost 25% of our members volunteer in this program. We were able to screen 1,137 children from 24 preschools/daycares between September 2023 and May 2024 free of charge. Prevent Blindness Ohio provides our training yearly and the certification is good for 3 years.

The CCSWR scholarship program had humble beginnings.

It began in 1991, the Helen Dineen scholarship was established at Ursuline College. It was to serve students at the graduate level who majored in some type of children’s studies.   In 1997, a scholarship was added at Lake Catholic High School with $1,000 awarded to a student in need. After a few years, it was decided to make the Lake Catholic scholarship an ongoing endowment with multiple students receiving a scholarship, as was the Helen Dineen scholarship. To date, $165,000 has been awarded to over 70 students since 2006.

The  Mary Virginia Merrick Scholarship program for public high school students was established in 2023. One recipient from each public high school is chosen by a school representative to receive the MVM scholarship . There is no GPA requirement. The students must be going to a 4 or 2 year college or trade school. Applicants are required to submit an essay describing what it means to be a servant-leader and how they have demonstrated that leadership in their school/community. In 2023, the first $500 Mary Virginia Merrick scholarships were awarded to 10 students from 11 eligible schools; in 2024, Auburn Career Center and Northern Career Institute were added to the program. Through the hard work and generosity of the Christ Child of the Western Reserve chapter these awards increased to $1,000 per student. As of 2024, a total of $13,000 was given in the name of our chapter and our founder, Mary Virginia Merrick.  Students should contact their school guidance counselor to apply.

Our layette is a loving boxed bundle of clothing, blankets and more for newborns. The layette bundles are assembled by our members and distributed to social service agencies and healthcare facilities.

Currently our Chapter prepares and distributes between 175-200 Layettes each year.  Each Layette contains onesies, socks, bibs, a sleep sack, sleep and play, crib sheet, washcloths, a crochet or knitted blanket and hat, a hooded bath towel, a book, a flannel blanket and information cards on parenting, shaken baby disorder, reading to an infant and our Chapter’s informative tri-fold.

There are approximately 4 assemblies of Layettes a year. Once Layettes are assembled and wrapped, they are distributed to Tripoint Hospital, Birthright, and WIC. Occasionally, when asked, we provide a Layette to a family in need from a community source. We are truly grateful for the many women who knit or crochet the small blankets and caps, or sew the flannel blankets for the Layettes. They certainly add a special loving touch to the Layettes. 

Camperships

Christ Child of the Western Reserve has been sending Lake county students to various camps over 30 years.

In 2023 our Chapter sent 63 children to 12 different camps. Some of these are residential, sleep-over camps and others are day camps. Those camps include:

• Camp Christopher
• Camp Sue Osborn
• Camp for Bereaved Children
• Footprints Center for Autism
• Camp Ho Mita Koda Type 1 Diabetes Camp
• Camp for abused children
• Willoughby Fine Arts
• 4-H Camp

This program has also supported camps such as:

• Caley Home Field Stone Farm Camp 
• Royal Family Kids
• Camp Red Oak Hospice
• New Avenues to Independence/Broadmoor
• Deepwood/YMCA
• Hiram House
  

Literacy

The Literacy Committee has a goal of encouraging children of Lake County to read, to create a love of reading, stimulate the imagination, and spark a desire to learn. We distribute gently used books to organizations such as WIC (women, infants & children), Ivy Women's Center ( a pregnancy clinic) and Birthright (an organization that helps clothe & feed children of Lake County) and Caley House for resident children ages 7 to 18.  We have distributed 1085 new and gently used books so far this year.

Literacy has also started a pilot program in which we supply schools with “Treasure Chests” filled with books for first graders. The teacher sets the criteria for the students such as birthdays, helping the teacher, being kind to another student, etc. The student then gets the key to the treasure chest and selects a book of their choice to take home. We currently have one school that has 2 treasure chests for both first grades. We have just purchased an additional 2 treasure chests for another school who has agreed to participate in this program. We are hoping to get additional schools on board for this program.

We currently have 6 readers to go into our schools and read to the children, in addition we have tutors who can tutor a child based on the schools needs.

The Literacy Committee has also completed two projects in 2024. The spring project included a sand bucket filled with sand toys and a book. This project was prepared for Mentor Co-Op preschool for 31 students. For our fall project, the committee has made fleece blankets with a book attached for 32 children. We are also planning a Halloween project and a Christmas project that will include a book for the children.

Christmas Giving

Christmas Giving services families of Lake County in need at Christmas time with food gift cards, books and gift cards to purchase gifts for the children in the family.  This confidential program works with the parishes in Lake County with the goal of helping more children have a joyful Christmas.

Clothing Committee

The Clothing Committee for the Christ Child Society of the Western Reserve helps children in need in Lake County. In 2023 we helped 486 children and spent over $33,000. We receive referrals from social workers, Head Start, and St. Vincent De Paul. We sometimes receive self-referrals but they must show need with Medicaid Cards and a Food Stamp Card.  If you are interested please call the Chapter number below to determine if you qualify.

It is very rewarding to see the smiles on the faces of mothers, fathers, and children when they get to select their own clothes. We have added diapers, winter coats, and winter boots to the list of necessities. 

We have served refugees, victims of fire, and abuse too. One example is an Afghan family who served as a translator for our army was helped by us. Their needs were very different because they wear modest long dresses with long sleeves. I suggested leggings to the teenage girls and they talked their mother into them for even her too! They wore them under their long skirts that weren’t quite long enough. 

Another example is of a mom who had lost all of her clothes and her children’s in a fire. Since this was a special case, we also helped the mom with some clothes. 

We also refer adults to Hope Chest in Painesville. Pregnant moms are referred to Birthright in Mentor. Clothing Committee is a very personally rewarding experience.  

Crates for Kids

Children starting out on their own after foster care are provided kitchen crates with dishes, pots and pans, utensils, etc. For Families Moving Forward we provide bedroom necessities such as blankets, sheets, pillows and lamps.

Day of Service

Each fall, the National Christ Child Society holds a Day of Caring to collect items for children in need.  Our chapter provides for the children of Lake County with items such as books, diapers, baby clothes, socks, toiletries, etc.

Parochial School of Religion (PSR)

Each fall, the CCSWR promotes the Lake Country parishes and their PSR programs with a monetary donation.  The parishes are given funds to offset the annual cost to run PSR.

Hygiene Bags

Hygiene bag distribution started as a 2023/2024 pilot program with Painesville City School District as the recipient. Painesville was chosen due to the amount of financial need possessed by the majority of their students. This program supplied 175 drawstring bags filled with full size hygiene products to all fifth graders in the district. Each bag contained full size products including: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, scrubby, lotion, deodorant, personal Kleenex, toothbrush, toothpaste, Chapstick, comb, and a note about personal hygiene. These bags allowed the students to have the necessary tools to learn about taking care of themselves and their personal hygiene. On a Sunday morning in November, this committee met and assembled the 175 bags. With the help of several husbands, the heavy filled bags were loaded into our RVs and delivered to the Painesville Board Office. The bags were well received and the pilot program has now become a yearly event.

In the fall of 2024 the Hygiene Committee assembled 208 kits for 208 fifth graders for all the fifth graders in the Painesville Public City Schools.