Core Events

Each year, SOS devotes a three week time period leading up to Thanksgiving to conduct our annual Thanksgiving Food Drive.  SOS asks the families of Murrysville to drop off material goods that make up a traditional Thanksgiving dinner including a frozen turkey, and SOS then assembles these goods into complete Thanksgiving Meal boxes that include all the ingredients listed below.  SOS is slowing uploading archived images of our previous food drives.  You can also find images of the 2014 food drive on the Instagram link at top of this page. Download and print this pdf that lists the food items of our food drive. Once archived, you will be able to observe the data listing the successes of the food drive, images of our members hard at work, click on an individual year of a food drive to view images and we hope you begin to understand why this is one of our most treasured SOS activities.

Few events build empathy in our members as much as the Homeless Clothing Drive Donation Event.  Over the few weeks directly after Winter Break when SOS members return in the new year,  SOS members work tirelessly on organizing clothing donations of specific items that SOS then places in Homeless Care Package Kit as a comprehensive gift covering all cold-weather clothing needs of the homeless.  The items listed in this pdf doc make up our care kits and are donated each February by our generous families at St. Bernadette’s Catholic Parish and from other charitable organizations and individuals in the Eastern suburbs.  Our Homeless Clothing Drive runs annually from the 3rd Monday in January until the 2nd Friday in February each year.  The donations are organized and delivered on the 3rd Monday in February (President’s Day), where students have the day off school so they can attend this wonderful event.

Between 15 to 20 members of Serving Other Souls annually attend a field trip where we travel to the Pittsburgh Ronald McDonald House (RMH) and purchase supplies for dinner, create the dinner, serve the dinner, and clean up after the dinner to all the families staying in the RMH.  The RMH is an apartment complex attached to the Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital.  The RMH offers families with children who are truly sick and are receiving treatment in Children’s Hospital a room or small apartment for the family to stay in while they are supporting the child who is receiving treatment.  At the top floor of the RMH, there is a Penthouse floor that is common kitchen, dining room, and living room to watch TV or offer entertainment.  At any given time, there around between 30-50 individuals living in these apartments, and therefore, we always prepare the meal for at least 50 people.

Visit the Miles of Smiles 5K website for more information.