Wearing hats to help those in need

Times Reporter 

 

Every school has a different program or part of the curriculum for each class to do some sort of good works, good citizenship type of project. The Grade 6 class at Westmount Elementary School recently held an in school fundraiser for the Wheatland Food Bank. 

“In Grade 6 they learn about government and how to participate even if you’re not of voting age, even things like giving back to your community,” said teacher Danielle Plett. 

“So we decided that (the students) wanted to do some kind of a community service type project. As a class they basically had a discussion about it, we did lots of brainstorming, came up with ideas, and they voted and decided this was going to be our first project.”

The students looked at different organizations around Strathmore, and decided as a class to support the food bank. After looking on the food bank’s website the students saw that cash donations are used to buy meat and other perishable items that aren’t commonly donated. 

“We did a ‘Wear a Hat for a Buck Day’ and everybody that brings a dollar could wear a hat for the whole day. A rule at school is that we usually aren’t allowed to wear hats in school,” said student Sam Ancell.

Announcements were made on the PA system, posters were made and the class spread the word as much as possible to the entire school. 

“We raised quite a bit actually,” said Noah Desjardins.

In total the class was able to raise $300 for the food bank. The need for money to purchase perishable items is almost as great as the need for the non-perishable items. With a cash donation the food bank is able to purchase things like meat, dairy products, vegetables and fresh fruits.