​Book Vending Machine donated to San Xavier Mission School

By Carissa Krautscheid
The Catholic school reopened in August. Kindergarten through second grade students attended the ribbon cutting, which was a special treat that delighted the young scholars. Every student took his or her turn to place a token in the book vending machine and select a book to keep. Each child immediately flipped through the pages of books that were hand-curated for the students of San Xavier Mission School.

Principal Minh Solorzano and teachers will distribute tokens to students as rewards, helping to make reading fun and exciting.

The book vending machine was made possible through the generous contributions of the Christ Child Society, whose mission is to “express their love of Christ by their personal service to God’s children in need, regardless of race or creed.”

Another focus of the Christ Child Society is literacy. They have stocked libraries and provided book vending machines at Santa Cruz Catholic School and Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic School. Once the books have been depleted from the machine, the Christ Child Society funds a new supply of books.

“When our Tucson Christ Child Society chapter is able to spread the love of the Christ Child to the children in our Catholic schools, our hearts are filled with joy and happiness because we are the hands and feet of Christ on earth. We are challenging poverty one child at a time,” said Angela Schneider, past president of the local chapter and the National Christ Child Society, which has been serving children in need for more than 133 years.

The Christ Child Society was founded by Servant of God Mary Virginia Merrick who said, “There is nothing too much to do for a child.” In her spirit, the local members of the Christ Child Society are always looking for needs in the community and finding ways to fill them. 

“It brings the kids so much joy and I am so happy to be here, seeing the kids’ faces,” said Schneider.

Principal Solorzano shared, “There are no words to convey our gratitude. It was amazing to see the kids’ excitement for the great work of the Christ Child Society. They are like guardian angels for the schools that they serve.”