GORE BAY—Charles C. McLean Public School held a very successful food drive prior to Christmas to benefit those families in need on Manitoulin Island.
“We held a very successful Christmas food drive campaign to benefit the local food bank (supporting) Manitoulin Family Resources (MFR) 2018 Christmas Food Drive Campaign,” said April Patterson, Grade 5/6 teacher at C.C. McLean.
“Our donations packed 18 boxes of food and new toy items that Mrs. (Tracey) Chapman (C.C. McLean Principal) kindly delivered to MFR,” said Ms. Patterson. “In total, the school collected over 416 food items and new toys.”
Ms. Patterson stated, “again this year, the generosity of students and their families was overwhelming. As a school community we were able to make an incredible donation to this important campaign and our students are able to feel proud and see that they can make a difference to many local families on Manitoulin and the North Shore. It was a great leadership opportunity for the kids and they very much enjoyed taking part.”
The Grade 5/6 students spearheaded the operation which lasted just shy of two weeks. Ms. Patterson explained the students wanted this year’s food drive to have a hockey theme. Some students created fitting poster advertisements that at were on display around the school which included an eye catching design, a catchy slogan, and an informational fact about the local food bank. Some students wrote motivational announcements which they read over the public address system as part of the daily morning messages at the school.
One of the messages read, “it’s the start of the game. The scoreboard is counting down. Take that slap shot to stop hunger. Please donate to our school food drive and support local families.”Another example of the students work read, “He shoots. The can flies into the donation bag. He scores and the crowd goes wild. Make sure to donate to the C.C. McLean food drive this year.”
Ms. Patterson also pointed out, “students prepared and decorated donation bags which were sent home with all students to remind and encourage families to make a donation. The students regularly collected items from the classrooms and created a visual display in the entry of the school, which further motivated donations and created a sense of amazement at what was accumulating and what we were doing as a school. Canned food donations were also collected the night of the school’s Christmas concert. We hope to take part again next year.”
