Students create human chain to donate items to Garson Food Bank

Students at École St. Augustin formed a human chain to deliver food items to the Garson Food Bank. The delivery helped address a 30 per cent rise in demand.

In a vibrant display of community spirit, students from École St-Augustin in Greater Sudbury, Ont., personally delivered about 720 non-perishable food items to the Garson Food Bank.

The event, organized by the school’s leadership students under the guidance of teacher Erin Neeley, saw participants form a human chain to pass the donations from the school to the food bank.

Leadership initiative brings learning to life

Neeley told CTV News of the significance of the hands-on project, noting it is a special event held every few years.

“We have a very special event that we do every few years. It’s a human chain to bring food that we’ve collected over the past two weeks from École Augustin all the way to the Garson Food Bank,” she said.

“This is something that was initiated by the leadership club.”

Neeley described the visual and emotional impact on the students during the collection period.

“We put the food boxes under the little Christmas trees in the class. So it’s like a visual aspect of what’s going on at Christmas,” she said.

“They’re so proud when they get to school, hardly able to lift the bags of food that they brought in. So, it’s very special this year.”

Addressing a growing need

The substantial donation arrives at a critical time for the food bank, which is experiencing a significant increase in demand. The local food bank’s chair, Susan Francoeur, emphasized the importance of the students’ efforts.

“It’ll make a difference,” she said.

“There’s a lot of needy families out there this year, so the need is more and more.”

When asked to quantify the increase, Francoeur told CTV News the need has “risen over 30 per cent. We have more clients every week and more and more.”

Instilling values through action

Staff and organizers highlight that the event provides a powerful lesson in empathy and civic responsibility for the students. The school makes an annual donation, but the human chain event makes the act of giving a tangible and memorable experience.

“It just teaches them to give and to share and, you know, to see that families need the food,” said Francoeur.

“I think it makes them feel pretty good.”

The participating leadership students expressed their pride when speaking with CTV News.

“Our whole school’s here, and we’re doing it because we want the people that are in Garson here to have a good holiday with like food,” said Grade 7 leadership student Clio Shang.

Fellow Grade 7 leadership student Justin Thériault shared a similar sentiment.

“I feel good, and we’re doing something good, and I know people will enjoy the canned goods and stuff,” he said.

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