The two Upper Canada District School Board schools collected donations for the food bank over the last two weeks of October. At the end of the month, they piled up the thousands of cans and boxes to build a bridge between the two schools, joining at their shared fence line.

« Giving back is an important part of life and incorporating that into learning opportunities for students is crucial for what it means to be part of a community and what it means to be a caring citizen, » stated RPS Principal Nichola Bond. « Throughout the project, students learned about teamwork and how they can make a difference directly within their community. It also demonstrated to students that giving back to a community doesn’t necessarily mean giving money, it can come in the form of food donations and volunteerism. »

Students of RPS really took to the community involvement and felt the warm glow of supporting and giving back to those in need.

“You never know what others are going through in their lives and it’s important for us to help them out and be kind,” saod Avni Arunkumar, a grade 6 student at RPS. “Because you don’t know what they’re going through and you don’t judge people if you’ve never been in their shoes before.”

At RDHS, students from the Link Crew, a leadership class for Grades 11 and 12 to assist younger students transition to life in high school, organized the food drive.

“We’re in a small town, so every donation and initiative helps our food bank and in turn those in our community,” stated Holly White, a Grade 12 student and Link Crew member at RDHS. “To raise awareness among our school community, we put up signs, made a post for our school’s Instagram, and promoted it on our morning announcements.”

« It’s really important in a small community to band together because when we can get a large social institution, like a school, to work together towards something it can be really impactful,” stated Grade 12 student and Link Crew member Dimitrie Menzies.