A class of Grade 11 students at St. Mary School is looking to make a difference in the community, all in the name of the Westlock and District Food Bank.
Teacher Janelle Da Cunha said when she presented her religion class with a challenge to help the food bank, the students immediately bought into the idea.
“Farm Credit Canada (FCC) asked us to help them out — they’re already doing their Drive to End Hunger and they’ve put it to the schools to see if there’s something we can do to help them and get that started on our end,” Da Cunha said.
The challenge issued by Farm Credit Canada fit in with the Grade 11 religion class’ curriculum.
“We try to have a community service component … they thought this would be great,” Da Cunha said. “The Grade 11 class doesn’t have something they’re currently working on so we thought let’s see what they can do with it.”
From now until Oct. 29, the class is on a mission to collect as much food as possible for the food bank.
A list of potential events and projects has been put together and it started with a food drive at the Westlock Thunderbirds football team’s Friday Night Lights event on Sept. 11.
St. Mary School students were encouraged to wear orange on Sept. 17 in support of the drive to end hunger and bring in food donations to a bin located in the front foyer of the school.
Elementary students have received paper bags to decorate and fill with food items. Also, an event in conjunction with a local volunteer fire department is in the works.
“We’ve been talking with the Busby Fire Department and they think they have a truck they can lend us … We just have to pick a date to go around town and collect food as a fill the truck event,” Da Cunha said.
“It’s way cooler to fill a fire truck than a regular truck.”
The class doesn’t have any particular goal for how much they would like to raise, but they would like to collect as much food as possible to help out a worthy organization like the food bank.
Da Cunha said whatever the end result is she’s pleased to see her students take on such an initiative.
“I’m super impressed, none of these ideas were my ideas,” she said, adding she came to the students with the idea for the project and they did the rest. “Instantly I had kids grouped up coming up with ideas and it was amazing all around.”
