Students from St. Mary School will slip on their Santa hats this weekend as they collect donations for the less fortunate as part of a food drive.
The school is teaming up with South Hill Fine Foods (SHFF) to hold this fundraiser, which occurs on Saturday, Nov. 27, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the grocery store.
Customers will have two options in which they can contribute. One option is to donate $5 or $10 in cash, which the students and SHFF would then take to donate a pre-packed bag of non-perishable food to the Moose Jaw and District Food Bank. Or, customers can purchase a pre-packed bag worth $5 or $10 while shopping and give it to the students before they leave the store.
Either way, the students will take the bags and place them in a school bus parked on site. The goal will be to fill up as much of the vehicle as possible.
“We are holding it because … Christmas is coming here and we feel that it’s a time of giving, and we’re giving our time to come and collect food for the food bank,” said principal Terry Marak, noting students will pre-pack bags with non-perishable foods the day before.
This is the first time the school is holding this type of pack-the-bus fundraiser with South Hill Fine Foods. The school teamed up with the grocery store since both organizations are on South Hill and meet the community’s needs differently.
Marak explained that he was in Regina several years ago and came across a similar fundraiser that RCMP and Regina police held at the Co-op. He wanted to hold something similar in Moose Jaw, but the arrival of the pandemic shut down any possibility of doing that. However, the ability to now hold larger-scale events means the school can proceed with this activity.
Marak was unsure how much food they wanted to raise. However, he pointed out that since the students will be at the store almost all day, the goal will be to collect a couple of hundred bags of food.
“But anything will be beneficial,” he added. “If we get 10 bags, it’s going to help out the food bank as well.”
Perry Chambers, general manager of South Hill Fine Foods, was pleased to work with the school on this endeavour. He noted that the grocery store does whatever it can to help residents on South Hill and throughout Moose Jaw.
“There’s families out there who are finding it tough,” he added, “so it’s always nice to help out and see what we can do.”
