Area homeless will have one less day of being hungry thanks to students at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niles.

In celebration of Catholic Schools Week, St. Mary’s students spent a good deal of time Monday preparing a special lunch for the Center for the Homeless in South Bend, Ind.

Students in preschool to third grade decorated the lunch bags with flowers and other items, while students in grades four through six packed the bags full of food, including a ham and cheese sandwich, fruit, vegetable, juice and condiments.

Then, Kristi Varma, St. Mary’s school board member, delivered the food to the Center for the Homeless later Monday.

“They were all very appreciative and really excited,” said Varma of the center’s reaction to her bringing 80 lunch bags of food. “The students really enjoyed the project too.”

Varma said the event would not have been such a success without the donations of Harding’s Friendly Market, The Nugget and Martin’s Super Market. Parents, teachers and parishioners also donated items or time to make it happen, she said.