Christmas will be a bit brighter for the O’Brien family and the Hope Pregnancy Center thanks to the efforts of students in Mrs. Hoover’s and Mr. Tardif’s 4th grade classes. The students have filled two baby bottles with dollars and coins they have bringing to school since Thanksgiving that will be donated in time for Christmas to the Hope Pregnancy Center in Cape May County.
The students and their parents have also been collecting money to bless the O’Brien family. This week, the students also each made encouragement cards to send with the gift to the O’Briens. “We wanted them to know that we are thinking about and praying for them every day,” said Mrs. Hoover.
Mrs. O’Brien is the 4th grade teachers’ aide and for the past three years, her husband, Paul, has undergone more than five surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy for treatment of a cancerous tumor that is now considered terminal. The O‘Brien family also includes Jacob, a junior at ACS, an 8-year-old son David, and Gail Alford, the ACS Director of Early and Elementary Education, who is Sandy’s daughter.