NACI students help Winnipeg Harvest

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Published on Monday, April 20, 2015

Photo courtesy of Michelle Young. (L to R) Samantha Nickart, Nikki Tomoniko, Josh Jackson & Morgan Graham sorting potatoes at Winnipeg Harvest.

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

The Neepawa Banner

On April 9, 33 students from NACI volunteered at Winnipeg Harvest.  The students, in Grades 9 to 12 were all part of the school’s social justice group, HOPE. They were accompanied by HOPE teacher advisors Michelle Young and Charlene Vandenbosch.

The NACI group was split into smaller groups and did a variety of jobs to prepare food and items of clothing for distribution to those in need. 

Young said that the students spent a lot of time sorting food.  This work included sorting a delivery of potatoes and onions and boxing 11,200 lbs of potatoes, enough for over 200 families, and peeling onions. They also sorted the organization’s delivery of bread and pastries according to expiry date.

With the good weather, Young said that another group was able to clean the Winnipeg Harvest’s garden and help prepare it for spring planting.

The students also got to help prepare T-shirt rolls, which provide a person with a shirt, a pair of underwear, a pair of socks and some basic toiletries in one easy to handle package. The packages are made for men and women and in a variety of clothing sizes. Young said this was new for the students and something they are looking at doing themselves in the future. Young added that they were surprised to learn that Winnipeg Harvest handles more than just food donations.

It was a busy day and Young praised the students, “They worked hard and nobody complained… The kids were busy and they felt valued.”

The school’s HOPE committee has a couple additional events planned before they wrap up for the year. They will be doing a cake walk as well as a clean up of the town’s highways and parks.  Young said they are on target to achieve their goal of raising $5,000 as part of an ongoing commitment to build a school in Kenya.