The local high school’s Catholic Action Projects group raised a total of $300 through t-shirt sales and a further $200 was added by their Students Against Drunk Driving committee, bringing the donation total to $500.
At a dollar a lunch, that works out to 500 lunches, or a day and a half of meals for the local charity.
“That was awesome, it was a great thing,” said Hunger in Moose Jaw executive director Sharla Sept. “They ran a couple of small fundraising campaigns and donated the funds to us and we couldn’t be happier...every dollar buys a lunch for a child, so it’s not the amount, it’s just the heart behind it and it makes a huge difference.”
That’s the whole idea behind Vanier’s projects, especially in such a difficult year.
“This year we ran with the theme ‘Love Leads Us’ during COVID times, so we wanted some of our Catholic Action Projects (CAP) to help the community and donate money around to different places in the community,” explained Vanier vice-principal Tiffany Owens, adding that long-sleeve t-shirts were sold at the school with the Love Leads Us slogan and $5 from each sale went to Hunger in Moose Jaw. Students were also able to buy lanyards just to donate a dollar or two if they wished.
Once that project had raised $300, SADD stepped in to help top out the amount.
“We weren’t able to do any activities with them this year since they’re usually helping out in the community and whatnot, but they still wanted to support what was going on and donated their $200,” Owens said.
The donation was just the latest for the CAP program this school year, as they helped out other organizations in the community, including Riverside Mission’s Christmas sock campaign.
The Hunger in Moose Jaw lunch program is a feat in itself, with volunteers and staff making around 300 lunches a day for local schoolchildren. Those are then dropped off all over the community, giving youngsters a full stomach to help them with an afternoon of learning.
“We have some great volunteers, we’re excited to have them back after a bit of a break, they take the lunches out to schools every single day,” Sept said. “We get lots of feedback from parents that it’s a great thing to support their kids and they’re really thankful for it.”
To learn more about Hunger in Moose Jaw, or to make a donation, visit their website at www.hungerinmoosejaw.org.
