Students and staff at Skyline Alternative School held their first-ever May Madness and collected 39 bags for the Salvation Army food bank.
“I put up a sign and 30 numbers across the entrance way,” said Michelle Palmer, a First Nations classroom support liaison at the school. “Every time someone brought in a bag I took a number down.
“I had set a goal of 30 bags and we exceeded that.”
It was the first time the school’s held a food drive, she added.
Principal Mike Franklin said it was nice to see the students involved with a community cause.
Food bank manager Sabrina Silvey said her shelves are in need of more protein, such as cans of tuna, beans, chicken, ham, even dried beans.
“This year our Christmas donations didn’t quite take us a far as other years, so we just had to purchase a bunch of things we normally wouldn’t have to purchase yet.”
Use of the food bank is in a transition phase because the way food is distributed has changed. Hampers are bigger but are handed out less often.
By July 1 any clients wanting to access the food bank will have to have appointments so that Silvey and her staff can sit down with them to help determine their needs and better provide services.
“We want to go beyond helping with food to see what else we can do,” she said.