It’s the spirit of giving just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Recently, Grade 12 students at George Elliot Secondary School in Lake Country collected more than 2000 non-perishable goods for those in need.
More than 30 students collected at least 50 items each during the drive by knocking on hundreds of doors in the community at the start of February.
Grad coordinator Monica Davidson said the idea came after Lake Country residents helped the grad class raise money for their prom ceremony.
“In January, the grad class did a big bottle drive and the students raised $4,500 thanks to the community,” said Davidson.
“After, our grad counsel thought it would be a great idea to give back to the community by hosting this food bank fundraiser.”
READ MORE:West Kelowna Fire Rescue celebrate 22nd annual firefighter food drive
Food drive coordinator Grace Robinson said the students split out into the community to achieve their goal amount.
“We all broke up into several groups and canvassed our own neighbourhoods,” said Robinson.
“We had a flyer that explained how we were thanking the community for the earlier bottle drive that we did. Each student got their goal amount by knocking on about ten houses. It was really successful.”
If a Grade 12 student collected more than 50 perishables as part of the drive, Robinson said they they got to participate in a grad sleepover at the school on Thursday, Feb. 13 as a reward.
“We played games like mantracker and mafia all night,”
“Nothing got out of hand at the sleepover, it was just really fun and successful.”
Congratulations to all the grade 12 students at George Elliot Secondary for collecting over 2000 non-perishable food items during a recent food drive.
— Connor Trembley (@ConnorTrembley) February 14, 2020
The items collected will be dispersed to food banks across the Central Okanagan. pic.twitter.com/lUIgPcbIDV
After all the students woke up on Friday, Jan. 14, they helped to transport all of the perishable goods into a food truck where it was taken to the Lake Country Food Bank.
Now, the items will also be transported to over ten different food banks in Kelowna, Salmon Arm, Vernon and Peachland.
Davidson said the food drive was a tribute to a prominent Lake Country pioneer who recently passed away, Bob Rymarchuck.
“Bob used to help run UBR Services in Lake Country,” she said.
“His business worked in partnership with our school in printing tickets and supporting the George Elliot Secondary School grad classes each year. Bob was one of the primary people in getting the new Lake Country Food Bank open.
This drive is a recognition of everything he’s done for us.”
Davidson said the school is already planning next year’s community food drive.
@connortrembley
connor.trembley@kelownacapnews.com
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