Canadian Food for Children
On May 3, 2010, the grade 9 and 10 classes participated in a volunteer trip to the Canadian Food for Children (CFFC) warehouse as a kickoff of our celebration of Catholic Education Week. Our students helped to write thank you notes, fold newsletters, sort donations, pack clothing into boxes, unload a shipping container from Chatham, and load a 20-foot cargo container headed for Malawi.
While the work seemed daunting at first, it didn’t take long for all of our girls to get into the spirit of the event. They worked tirelessly all morning and still made it to class with their thinking caps on!
Canadian Food for Children was founded in 1985 by Dr. Andrew Simone, a Toronto dermatologist who heard God’s call to serve in the form of collecting donations of food and clothing for the less fortunate around the world. The organization is run solely by volunteers and donations; from the pens, paper and envelopes used in the office to the warehouse space that they occupy on Lakeshore road. While many of the volunteers at CFFC are retired people, one woman that we worked with is a full-time physiotherapist who works four days a week. Every week, on her day off, she works at the CFFC warehouse packing shipping containers.
By working at CFFC, our students showed true solidarity with the less fortunate. They were able to gain a deeper understanding of the plight of children around the world, and to reflect on how truly fortunate we are to live in a land of plenty and opportunity.
According to Grade 9 student Kristin “The trip was absolutely amazing! We got to help package up boxes of clothes for underprivileged children, send letters of awareness to people in the community and load up trucks that were taking food to places all over the world. Everyone pitched in and we really got to connect with our classmates in a way like no other. The whole class left the trip really pleased with what we had accomplished, and with a new realization of how lucky we really are.”
