St. Mary’s Catholic School student Stuart Lundberg put a piece of cheese between two slices of bread and handed the unfinished sandwich off to schoolmate Edward DeGraff, who added a couple slices of ham. Across from him, Murphy Wegner finished off the sandwich with a squirt of mustard.

On Monday, St. Mary’s students made approximately 80 sack lunches that will be donated to a homeless shelter in South Bend, Ind. Each lunch contained a sandwich, bottled water, apple and piece of candy. The food was placed in paper sacks decorated by the students.

“It makes me really happy because so many people will get food now — if they don’t have it they can starve,” said Wegner, a fourth-grade student. “We are learning that it is important to help others.”

The sack-lunch donation kicked off the Niles school’s participation in Catholic School Week. Every day the students will perform a different activity. Monday was devoted to community involvement.

“They’re having a ball and it’s our way to give back to the community,” said Kristi Varga, school board member. “I did it last year and it was a really humbling experience to take it out to the shelter, especially with so many people in need.”

Abbi Wegner, parent volunteer, said Martin’s Supermarket donated the bread, while Hardings sold the meat to St. Mary’s at a discounted price. The school took care of the rest.

As Catholic Schools Week continues, St. Mary’s will celebrate its students on Tuesday, while on Wednesday students will create a poster for those who are serving or have served in our nation’s military. A member of the U.S. Marine Corps will also be a guest speaker Wednesday. Vocation will be the subject Thursday and teachers will be celebrated on Friday.

“Students will create a card to tell them (teachers) why they are special,” Varga said. “Also, certificates will be given out to our volunteers. So much of what is done here is done by volunteers, so it’s important to recognize them.”

A pizza party will be held for the parishioners Saturday.