“Even if you’re young, you can do something good for the world. You can make the world a better place right now. You don’t have to wait until you’re older.”  -- Zoey P., 11 years old

On one hand, Zoey and Jolie are your average 6^th grade girls. They giggle, they love summer vacation, they fix each other’s hair before having their photo taken. On the other hand, they have the wisdom of centenarians and hearts as wide as the plains.



Zoey and Jolie are best friends. They’ve been best friends for 10 months. Ten months and 11 days, they’ll tell you. They remember everything. To Zoey and Jolie, every day is worth remembering and every day they spend together doing things for others is important. While they keep close track of the time they spend together, they have no sense of score-keeping when it comes to the love they give away helping others.

“Our friendship was fun, but it’s gotten more fun! We experience even more happiness together since we started doing Heavenly Babies. It’s more fun when you can share happiness with another person--your best friend or anyone!” says Jolie.

A few months ago, the girls were hanging out at Zoe’s grandmother’s home, when they noticed a large amount of plastic bags filled with baby clothes in the bedroom and grew curious. Janet Pangborn, Zoe’s grandmother, explained that the bags were donations she makes to St. Paul’s Heavenly Babies “Baby Shower in a Bag” ministry that provides baby items to new mothers in need. Pangborn, a St. Bruno parishioner, hands the completed bags off to her longtime friend, Susan Fine, a St. Paul parishioner and Heavenly Babies volunteer, who deposits both ladies’ contributions in the St. Paul storeroom for distribution.

The girls were riddled with excitement and wanted to know if they could help.

After Janet explained what the bags were for and what went in them, the two tender-hearted tweens jumped into action and begged Pangborn to let them help pack the next bundle of layettes. She agreed and once they got a taste of the fun that went into shopping, color-coordinating and packaging, the girls were hooked! The spent many hours this summer elbow-to-elbow with Janet and Susan assembling the newborn gift bags and since then, they’ve been a powerhouse!

Zoey and Jolie, two soon-to-be middle schoolers, had back-to-back birthdays in June.  They made a plan and told their parents in lieu of birthday gifts this year, they just wanted donations—money or supplies—to donate to the Heavenly Babies ministry. No gifts for themselves, just baby clothing for the moms and babies who were starting out with nothing.

“I have everything I already wished for. I just wanted to be able to help fulfill other people’s wishes, for them to be happy receiving a gift they wanted,” said Zoey. “There’s so many people who can’t give their babies what they need or wish for.”

The girls celebrated their birthdays together and their guests didn’t bat an eye at fulfilling their selfless requests. Instead of receiving personal gifts, the girls were showered with baby clothes, supplies and money to go shopping with.

On August 1, Janet took the eager girls out for a day of Heavenly Babies shopping. The compassionate cart-pushers loaded up on pajamas, onesies and other baby must-haves, while careful to choose only items that were on sale so they could stretch their birthday bucks as far as they could. The ladies hit up Ross, Target, TJ Maxx and a couple of local thrift stores. Upon finishing their successful hunt, they returned to Janet’s home where they scattered their finds and began putting them in color-coordinated piles.


It took the duo no time to pack up nearly 60 bags—in all colors of the rainbow, each bag topped off with a soft, plush toy and a bedtime book. On Wednesday, August 3, Janet and Susan arranged for the girls to donate the bags in person to Jennifer Aldrich, Heavenly Babies Ministry leader, and Mary Kral, Director of Adult Faith Formation and Human Concerns. The girls visited St. Paul and learned where their bags go from here and who receives the bags. They got a tour of the Heavenly Babies storeroom and got to read thank you notes from moms who had benefitted from the program.
The girls said they have no intentions of stopping their Heavenly Babies work, but if NBC’s Lester Holt offered to host them on an episode of Nightly Kids Edition, they may have to excuse themselves briefly from their work. “We watched that show in school and it would be so cool to be on it and tell people about Heavenly Babies! That’s our dream.”



When asked for a bit of final advice, we asked them what they would say to other kids about volunteering.

Jolie: “A lot of kids think that helping others is too much work. Seeing people happy isn’t work. Pack one bag if you can. One bag is more than no bags. Just do something, anything.”
Zoey: “Don’t just think about it, do it. Lots of kids only want to do things they get paid for. We don’t see this as a job. Just ask yourself, ‘What can I do?’ and you’ll see there’s lots of stuff.”

It’s hard to tell who was more excited about the heaping helping of love that the church was entrusted with to share —the Heavenly Babies ministry team or the girls. Their advice holds fast and true for people of all ages. We’re all capable of doing something. Anything.




**We’re proud of these girls and their hearts to love others. We’re proud of the young people who rise above the crowd to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Please keep them in your prayers. We’re thankful for parishioners like Susan and Janet and the teamwork they exemplify through their friendship. We love seeing our parishes work hand-in-hand to accomplish the missions laid out before them. We appreciate all of you who give so selflessly of your time, prayers and prosperity. You are the light and love of God here on earth.

If you would like to experience the joy that floods back from being a volunteer, we have a wonderful mix of volunteer opportunities for you to explore.Visit our Get Involved page on the St. Paul website or the Ministries page at St. Bruno to find your perfect fit.

If you’d like to learn more about our Heavenly Babies Ministry, visit the St. Paul website or click here.