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North Battleford students lend a hand to those in need

Dec 6, 2017 | 7:00 AM

For more than twenty years, the students of North Battleford’s Comprehensive High School have donated their time and talents to make Christmas a little brighter for those in need.

The students are giving back to the community by collecting food items for the Battleford’s District Food and Resource Centre (BDFC). Students will canvass streets collecting non-perishable items Sun., Dec. 10 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Mon., Dec.11 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Teacher and food drive co-ordinator Andrew Sneddon told battlefordsNOW he’s hoping to see plenty of students volunteer this year.

“If we get a large number of volunteers from the student body then we may be able to cover seven to 10 neighbourhoods,” said Snedden. “If our number is low, then we try to canvass as much of the city as we can.”

In the three years he has co-ordinated the food drive, Snedden said they have averaged 30 student volunteers per year.

“We try to encourage community involvement within our school, “Snedden added. “We have heard from many of our students how much they enjoyed giving back and how positive the food drive makes them feel. That’s encouraging for us.”

The students don’t just collect food within the community. The North Battleford Comprehensive High School issues an in-school challenge for students to bring non-perishable food items to the school, which are also donated to the food bank.

“Last year, we had a terrific year, and we hope to best that this year,” Snedden said. “We had Loraas Environmental Services stop by the school, and we filled their truck with donated food, then we filled part of another truck to boot.”

BDFC Executive Director Erin Katerynych said all donations are welcome at this time of year but when a group of youth get involved it means something special.

“To see these young men and women donate to those in need just fills me with gratitude,” she said. “We live in a very generous community who always look out for each other.”

Any community members who wish to get involved are invited to drop off non-perishable food items at the North Battleford Comprehensive School. Monetary donations can be made directly to the BDFC, and all cash donations received within the month of December will be matched by PotashCorp Saskatchewan.

 

Roger.white@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @RJWtheReporter