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    Hannah Mayhew, center, works alongside her seventh- and eighth-grade classmates to clean and load bikes onto a trailer after they had been tuned up and repaired by other classes. 
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    Eighth-grader Roland Bedard tunes up a bike in the shop at Dublin Christian Academy.
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    Shannon Golden, left, and Emma Blanchette carry boxes of donations the students collected for refugees in the Manchester area. Besides the bicycles, DCA donated helmets, bike locks and baskets of household supplies and staples.
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    From left, Gabe Gerow, Blake Traffie, Ethan Wilcox, Isabelle Duprey and Isaiah McAllister load baskets of household supplies and staples onto a trailer for delivery to International Institute of New England in Manchester for distribution to refugee families in New Hampshire.
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    DCA lower school students created cards and artwork to welcome refugee families recently resettled in New Hampshire. From left are Winslow Lawrence, Quinn Colon, Linda Xu, Clara French, Arielle Ducharme, Ceceilia Evers, Grace Loreto, Bailey Morello, McKinley Burt and Evangelina Peragallo.
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    From left, Judah Pass, Nathan Golden and Elijah George create artwork with their classmates for refugees newly resettled in New Hampshire.

After learning that bicycles are often the only way refugees can independently get to work, language school, medical appointments and stores while waiting more than six months for a driver’s license and vehicle, Dublin Christian Academy students helped to provide bikes to refugees in Manchester.

As part of the school’s day of service, the entire student body – pre-K through 12th grade – worked to collect and fix donated bicycles, pack baskets of supplies and deliver bikes, helmets, bike locks and baskets of basic household necessities.

DCA encouraged the students to view their calling to serve refugees and immigrants as rooted in the gospel, as an expression of God’s love. In a morning assembly, upper school students visited with an Afghan refugee in Mexico via Zoom. Later in the day, Michael Mailloux and Wendy Brooks visited from the International Institute of New England and explained the differences between immigrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and humanitarian parolees, and explained the process by which refugees end up in New Hampshire when circumstances required them to leave their home country. Students heard stories about what life is like as these individuals and families adjust to new customs and cultures.

By the end of the day, students in preschool through sixth grade had packed 15 baskets that contained household basics like laundry detergent, dish soap, hand soap, trash bags, toilet paper and rice. Students added handmade cards and notes to each basket. Students in seventh through 12th grade repaired and tuned up 18 bicycles, 12 of which were ready for delivery by the afternoon. DCA seniors delivered the supplies, bicycles, helmets and bike locks to Manchester at the end of the school day.