Granum school students, staff and parents pose with the bags filled with donations that they collected during the drive in support of the food bank.
Granum residents opened their hearts — and their cupboards — to support school students and the local food bank.
Granum school students carried out a food drive and on Friday delivered more than 71 bags of food to the Granum Drop In Centre.
“We’re trying to build school community,” principal Randy Bohnet said. “That involves parents, staff, community members and students. We just felt this would be an awesome way to do that.”
The students went around the hamlet a week earlier, leaving blue plastic bags with a note explaining the food drive and inviting people to donate.
On Friday, the students again went around the hamlet to collect the bags filled with non-perishable food items.
“It’s a great way to do it,” Bohnet said. “People don’t often think about where they can donate and this puts it right on their doorstep and allows it to be on their minds.”
The work of the students, supported by parents and the Granum community, made the project a success.
“It helped us achieve our goals,” Bohnet said, adding the project is likely to become an annual effort.
Amanda Gallant, whose Grade 1 and Grade 4 sons are in their first year at Granum school, was delighted to be involved.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Gallant said. “I think in small town settings like this it’s an extremely productive way of asking people for help, of coming together as a community,” Gallant said. “I love doing it this way.”
The project also resonated with the students, who spent about 30 minutes delivering the bags to houses, and about the same amount of time collecting them.
“The kids loved it,” Gallant said. “They’re all very excited to be involved and this is a great way to use play and exercise to encourage them to help people.”
Gallant helped the students collect the more than 71 bags of food on Friday morning and came away impressed by Granum’s response to the food drive.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Gallant said. “We didn’t really know what to expect but this is more than I ever expected we would get. I was assuming each class might come back with three or four bags if we were lucky.”
“This is unbelievable.”
The food drive was also welcomed by the volunteers who run the program at the Granum Drop In Centre.
The food bank is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 12 noon.
The food bank has an area in the back of the centre with shelves, cupboards and freezers where the food is stored.
The volunteers said the food bank is needed now more than ever, as people struggle with the high cost of living.
“It definitely has gone up,” volunteer Eleanor Rondeau said of the number of people using the food bank’s services. “A lot of times it’s working families who need that extra boost.”
In addition to providing food each week, the food bank has a Christmas program that last year provided 26 hampers.
The food bank will accept donations of non-perishable food items during the regular hours of the Drop In Centre.
Cash donations are also welcome, so volunteers can buy items that have a short shelf life such as milk and bread.
“We can always use donations,” Rondeau said.
There is a Christmas gift program as well, through which people can find out the age of a child who is registered with the program and buy a gift.
“We make sure the kids all get one gift,” Rondeau said.
The volunteers were overwhelmed by the support shown by the community — and the students — on Friday.
“I’m just floored by this amount,” Rondeau said.
