THUNDER BAY - This holiday season, one local high school banded together and went above and beyond for its school-wide food drive, collecting more than 12,000 items for the Christmas Cheer Fund.
Students at St. Ignatius High School collected 12,855 items for the annual food drive, of which $5,350 was a monetary donation.
“The school really came together,” said grade 10 student, Alexandra Grillo. “Our goal was 10,000 but we went quite a lot past that.”
For the past two weeks, students from all grades came together to collect food items for the Christmas Cheer Fund, which will be used to fill more than 1,500 Holiday Hampers for people in need.
“Being able to donate and seeing how it can put a smile on someone’s face for Christmas really means a lot,” said grade 9 student, Lily Sutton. “And coming here and seeing how happy it makes everybody and how it makes a stronger community for us to come together really means a lot to be a part of that.”
According to Grillo, the entire school came together to surpass the original goal because students in every grade wanted to help.
“It’s funny how at the beginning of the year everyone is so different in different grades and at Christmas everyone comes together within the classes and the community and helps out,” she said.
Grillo and Sutton, along with their fellow classmates, were among the many volunteers at the CLE on Monday helping sort and prepare donations for distribution this week.
“I think it’s important to see where it’s going,” Grillo said of volunteering. “It’s helping people in our community, but it’s a whole other level to help along the way in the process.”
“And seeing all the hard work that goes in to getting the food out to all the different families and all the people working so hard to make this happen,” Sutton added.
Hampers will be available to registered families on Tuesday Dec. 13 in the south ward and on Wednesday Dec. 14 in the north ward. Donations are still being accepted for the Christmas Cheer Fund.
“We are really proud of our school for coming together,” Grillo said. “This was a great year for Christmas Cheer.”
