The BSM community met on Wednesday April 19 to celebrate this year’s Easter mass. The Abbey’s Hope non-profit organization was also celebrated by being chosen as the Common Basket.

Abbey’s Hope is an organization run by BSM parents Scott and Katie Taylor. “Abbey’s Hope is an aquatics or water based organization where we advocate and educate [people] for safer pools for the safety of kids. We became a foundation in 2008 after Abbey was injured in 2007, due to a poorly maintained pool drain,” Katie Taylor said.

After their daughter’s accident, they made it their mission to make sure nothing like what they experienced would ever happen again. “We’ve worked really hard with state legislation, national legislation, and helping other states with their own legislation…We passed the Abigail Taylor Pool and Spa Safety Act in the state of Minnesota in 2009, which was much stronger than the national legislation and that really felt like the wheels were going in the right direction,” Taylor said.

In a perfect world, Taylor’s main goal is to help create a world with no drowning. “Some things, no matter what you do or how many barriers you put in the way you can’t 100% prevent it. But I like seeing the numbers moving the way they are. Up until very recently, there hadn’t been entrapment in a public pool, which is the national legislation that we passed,” Taylor said.

The whole Taylor family was grateful for being chosen as the Easter Masses’ Common Basket because they are able to see their values line up with BSM’s. “I think we fit so well in the Common Basket model because that’s what we’re trying to do whether we’re doing it with partnerships in North Minneapolis or in St. Paul. It’s getting access to families and kids that don’t have access, because so often we forget the blessings that we do have,” Taylor said.

The whole BSM community supported the Taylor family and the Abbey’s Hope foundation by wearing pink and purple clothes and wearing pink Abbey’s Hope bracelets. “I chose to wear pink yesterday because I wanted to show my support to Abbey and the whole Taylor family,” freshman Mazlow Moquist said.