Photographer: COURTESY PHOTO

Easter baskets donated by St. Mark School students wait to be collected by families at New Horizon Methodist Church, neighbor to St. Mark Church in Southwest Ranches.

SOUTHWEST RANCHES | Students from St. Mark School donated Easter baskets to their next-door neighbor, New Horizon Methodist Church.

“We always welcome an opportunity to serve the greater community, particularly with our neighbors at New Horizon. It is these kinds of ecumenical relations that truly show the body of Christ at work in our community,” said Donna Villavisanis, director of religious education at St. Mark Church.

The original idea for the Lenten collection was to provide gifts for the immigrant children and families of Hope Rural School in Indiantown, Florida, which provides them with a Catholic education. But due to schools closures and travel concerns caused by the coronavirus, the donations stayed local this year. They went to Pack-a-Sack of Broward, which packs meals for Broward County School children. Pack-a-Sack Broward then passed the baskets to New Horizon Methodist.

“The baskets were an unexpected blessing and treat for the children and their families,” said Villavisanis.