Over 650 young people gathered at Mary Help of Christians Academy in North Haledon, NJ, USA, on Monday, May 11, 2015, to celebrate Don Bosco’s 200th birthday. Students from the high school as well as St. Anthony (Hawthorne, NJ), St. Theresa (Kenilworth, NJ), Corpus Christi-Holy Rosary (Port Chester, NY), Academy of St. Francis (Totowa, NJ) and Blessed Sacrament (Paterson, NJ) attended.

The day, organized by the high school Campus Ministry and Student Council, was set in true Salesian style. The festivities began in the chapel with a skit and prayer service. Sr. Karen Dunn, Provincial, greeted the young people, after which all sang, “Don Bosco, Friend of the Young and the Poor.” The young people then enjoyed inflatable bounce houses, games, music, soccer, basketball, and face painting and ate their way through lunch, popcorn, and cotton candy. Don Bosco himself appeared in the form of a 12-foot puppet!

The young people in initial formation for both the FMA and the SDB assisted the children throughout the event.

Divine Providence clearly blessed the Don Bosco Birthday Bash, not only with good weather, but with generous donations to help allay the overall cost. Divine Providence provided all that was needed.

As she watched the students departing at the end of the festivities, on one of the students from Mary Help commented, “This was a great celebration. It was so nice having the other schools here to celebrate Don Bosco. I had so much fun!” The community of Mary Help felt the same, as all of their hard work bore fruit in a wonderful celebration, the kind of which you can only have once every two hundred years!