For 69 children on a Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana, the winter became a little warmer thanks to the school-wide efforts of Central Catholic High School. For this year’s mission drive, the Central Catholic community “adopted” students at the De La Salle Blackfeet School in grades four through eight, raising enough money to purchase winter coats, hats and gloves for each student.

The De La Salle School in Browning is run by Lasallian Brothers, and students from Central Catholic have been involved in three immersion trips on the reservation helping in the classrooms, serving as mentors, and learning more about Native American culture. During the school visits, Central Catholic students took notice of the harsh weather conditions and the apparel worn by students who would walk to school in sub-zero temperatures wearing nothing but hooded sweatshirts. This fall, the idea for the 2011 mission project was brought back to the high school and embraced by Central Catholic’s students, families, and faculty.