By Vriti Bakshi, Work Experience Student
Osoyoos Secondary School held its annual food drive in December in order to bring non-perishable food and other household necessities to those who need it most.
Every year, students are encouraged to bring in items for the food drive, but this year saw an extraordinary amount of donations from students and staff.
Principal Scott Tremblay expressed his pride and gratitude regarding this year’s drive. “This year, donations pretty much quadrupled. I think it was partially because it was a project with our Grade 12 students. It motivated students to bring in more and teachers were more involved.”
The average amount of donations brought in by the school is usually around 200 items, but this year the school donated nearly 800 items to the Osoyoos Food Bank.
Tremblay expressed his amazement at the jump in numbers, stating: “For our students to be involved in a community giveback, it shows that we (the students) are not just a bunch of teenagers that don’t care about the world and others.”
Unlike previous years, the school used the food drive to create a leadership opportunity for Grade 12 students in the Career Life Connections course. Each group of seniors was assigned a grade and encouraged that group to donate then the winning grade would have a pizza party.
“It was an initiative in our course, and kids really took this as a leadership opportunity,” Tremblay said.
This year’s food drive has been one of Osoyoos Secondary’s most significant. “There is a lot of pride, not just for the school, but for the community as well,” he noted.
