TYNE VALLEY – Oct. 26, 2022 – It was a « win-win-win » situation again this year for the people who contributed non-perishable food items to a recent school food drive, the Evangeline School students who organized the collection, the class that won a nice cash prize, and the eventual recipients of the food.
Mrs. Claudine Blaquière’s high school sociology class once again collaborated with the Provincial Credit Union (Évangéline branch) and the Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI to organize the school food drive on the occasion of the Co-op and Small Business Week. The concept of sharing, which is evident in this activity, is a fundamental principle of the co-op movement.
Students had very recently been disrupted by Hurricane Fiona and moved to makeshift classrooms to continue their studies, so organizers wondered if they should proceed with the food drive so soon after the disaster. The teachers felt it was best to resume as many « normal » activities as possible, such as this drive that had been planned for some time, as soon as possible.
Knowing that many people in West Prince are in dire financial straits as a result of the hurricane, many families in the Evangeline area sent non-perishable food items to school with their children to help the cause. The school children proudly contributed several large boxes of food. Mrs. Denise Millette’s Grade 8 class again this year proudly won the $100 prize from Provincial Credit Union (Évangéline Branch) for contributing the largest volume of food – an average of six items per student.
Blaquière and her sociology class then went to the West Prince Caring Cupboard food bank, Tyne Valley branch, Oct. 26, to deliver, sort and store all that food. Bank coordinator Verna Barlow weighed each box, calculating that the school had contributed a total of 258.6 kg of food. The Canada Revenue Agency tells them that such contributions are worth $7.07 per kilogram, hence a total of $1,828.30. In addition, $124 in cash was donated to the food bank by various clients of the Provincial Credit Union; also, a $100 gift card was donated by the winner of the Wellington Co-op knitting contest, Simone Arsenault of Abram-Village.
Caring Cupboard board member Mary LeBlanc and coordinator Doug LeBlanc then presented the students with a beautiful certificate to sincerely thank Évangéline School for its annual food contribution; the school has been bringing food to Tyne Valley since 2017. Visibly touched, the students immediately began planning where to hang this sidebar.
LeBlanc confirmed that the need for food is always growing as more and more people are having difficulty meeting their basic needs, including food, and are forced to turn to social assistance agencies. She therefore invites everyone to continue to contribute, especially in these pre-winter times.
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PHOTO 1: Mary LeBlanc, right, a board member of the West Prince Caring Cupboard, Tyne Valley Branch, explains the organisation’s storage system to students from Evangeline School’s sociology class, Jérome Gallant, Taia Gallant, Adelle Joshua and Frances MacInnes.
PHOTO 2: The West Prince Caring Cupboard, Tyne Valley Branch, thanked Evangeline School for its annual contribution of non-perishable food items, since 2017, by presenting the school with a beautiful certificate. Pictured are, front row, from left, Frances MacInnes, Adriana Diamond, teacher Claudine Blaquiere accepting the certificate from board member Mary LeBlanc, Taia Gallant, Amber Arsenault and coordinator Doug LeBlanc; back row, Daniel Silliker, Jérome Gallant, Madison Simpson, Brent Arsenault, Keanna Arsenault, Adelle Joshua, Brooklin Richard and food bank coordinator Verna Barlow.
PHOTO 3: The champion class for the Fall 2022 Evangeline School food drive is again Mrs. Denise Millette’s 8th grade class (third from right, back row). For their efforts, the students earned $100 from the Provincial Credit Union, Evangeline Branch. Marketing officer Diane McInnis (standing in the center of the photo) made the presentation to the class. Students from Ms. Claudine Blaquière’s sociology class (far left) coordinated the food drive.