Christmas tree program to benefit West Deer church, Deer Lakes suicide prevention program

A West Deer preschool teacher who loves Hallmark Christmas movies is hoping to build community spirit and foster generosity with township Christmas trees.

The “Our Tree of Light” Christmas tree project will benefit Our Lady of the Lakes Parish and the hopefully soon-to-be implemented Hope Squad – a suicide prevention program — at Deer Lakes School District.

“I love Hallmark movies so much, and they always have a town tree. One movie in particular, I remember one, that (had) a ‘remembrance tree,’” said Caylin Zaremski, 23, of West Deer. “I just thought that was beautiful, and I thought our town needed one. This year we’ve lost a lot of people. I just thought it was a perfect time.”

The Christmas trees will be displayed in front of the parish’s St. Victor and Transfiguration sites.

People can buy clear ornaments that will be hand painted with Christmas themes and names, and displayed on the trees. Purchasers can choose a family name, the name of a loved one who has died, or a business name.

They cost $20 for one and $30 for two.

All profits will be split between the parish and the suicide prevention program.

“We hope to fill the trees with ornaments hand-painted with the names of departed loved ones, family names and businesses of our town,” the program flier says. “They will shine brightly, for all to see the physical representation of the wonderful hearts that fill our town with light.”

Zaremski teaches religious education classes at the parish and is a graduate of Deer Lakes School District.

Zaremski found out about Hope Squad by attending a school board virtual meeting. During that meeting Dan and Molly Rupprecht, the parents of Maura Rupprecht, presented the program to the board.

Maura Rupprecht was a Deer Lakes High School sophomore who died by suicide in March 2019. She was 16.

The Rupprecht family has been working with district administrators to determine which mental health and care programs would be most beneficial to district students. They picked Hope Squad, a school-based, peer-to-peer suicide prevention program.

Money to pay for Hope Squad was raised by a hockey game held in Maura’s honor last year.

“I just thought, ‘Oh! That’s a perfect place for the money to go to,” Zaremski said. “Our parish has also lost about $30,000 this year. I thought, ‘Another place for the money to go to.’”

Molly Rupprecht said the fundraiser is a wonderful way to spread Christmas cheer and bring the community together to support two important causes.

“We appreciate Caylin’s support to help bring the Hope Squad to Deer Lakes,” Rupprecht said. “We hope everyone will support Caylin by decorating our community Christmas trees.”

Zaremski said her siblings knew and were friends with two Deer Lakes students, including Maura, who died by suicide in recent years.

“My brother, he lost his football teammate when he was junior, and they were great friends,” Zaremski said. “My other brother, when he was a sophomore, he lost Maura.”

“I’ve just seen the affect on the community. Nothing like that’s ever really happened in our town. It just seemed really close to everyone’s hearts.”

The program order form asks for all orders to be made by Sunday, Dec. 6, but Zaremski said orders will continue to be accepted past then. She provided that date because she wants the trees to be up by Dec. 12 and ornaments to be ready to decorate them.

Zaremski has no fundraising goal for the program. She just hopes to raise “as much as I can.”