Students at Coghlan Fundamental Elementary school are 鈥榙ecking the halls鈥� with donations to the Aldergrove Food Bank.
The school does two fundraisers for the food bank each year 鈥� one at Thanksgiving and one at Christmas time.
鈥淲e often encourage students to do things for other organizations and to focus on local causes as well. The Food Bank is a really worthy cause,鈥� said Cathy Gracie, Coghlan Fundamental Elementary鈥檚 principal.
For the first time this year, students will craft a link that will be added to a paper chain for each food item donated.
The paper chain will be strung around the school as a decorative visual for how much food has been raised.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be a good visual for the students because often times the boxes are in the classrooms and we bring them out as they鈥檙e getting collecting, so they [students] don鈥檛 really have a good idea of how much support or impact they鈥檝e had. It鈥檚 a way to encourage them to keep bringing things in to make the chain even longer.鈥�
Gracie added the school鈥檚 fundraises teach students how fortunate they are.
鈥淭he outreach piece is really important because our students are very fortunate. The kids don鈥檛 necessary come from needy backgrounds so it鈥檚 important for them to recognize that we are fortunate and it鈥檚 good to give back to the community.鈥�
And while the school doesn鈥檛 keep track of how much food they usually collect, Gracie said it always fills a few truckloads.
The school is collecting donations from Nov. 24 to Dec. 17.
Non-perishable food items can be brought directly to the school during school hours.
