Northwest schools unite for community

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This article was published 23/03/2022 (1291 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NORTHWEST WINNIPEG

A joint effort between five northwest schools has raised thousands of items for a local women’s centre.

Around the Christmas holidays, Garden Grove School principal Nancy Karpinsky learned that North Point Douglas Women’s Centre’s cupboards were bare and in desperate need of donations to keep its food hamper program running.

While January and February are not typical times to run a food drive, Karpinsky says, she reached out to her colleagues at Tyndall Park Community School, Ecole Stanley Knowles School, Meadows West School and Ecole Waterford Springs School to organize a “Unity Challenge.”

“The kids have had to deal with a lot of adult topics over the past couple of years, and so many of the things that brought them joy were cancelled,” Karpinsky said. “We wanted to do something that would bring them together and unite them with other schools. We wanted something to look forward to and be proud of.”

Karpinsky said the students at all five schools “crushed it.” Their target was a combined total of 600 items of non-perishable food and toiletries, but they brought in over 4,000. It took five loads by truck to get all the donations to North Point Douglas Women’s Centre on March 15.

The kids were excited, Karpinsky added. The table set up at Garden Grove School immediately filled up, requiring two more to be added. At the same time, students were participating in a goal setting challenge. Those who reached their goals were awarded gold medals.

“The more donations that came, the more motivated the students were to contribute,” Karpinsky said.

While North Point Douglas Women’s Centre was grateful for the donations, the 4,000 items will only last about two weeks.

Karpinsky believes this is due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People have been hit hard, so there’s more need but fewer people donating,” she said.

Lily Barriento, Mikhaila Navoa, Matthieu Sarmiento, Chris Kirk and Guinton Jones are five Garden Grove School students that participated in the Unity Challenge.

“It’s quite refreshing to have donated a bunch of food to help people,” Grade 6 student Barriento said. “I’m just happy that people will have some food for a bit.”

“It will change some peoples’ lives,” Grade 6 student Sarmiento added.

In honour of the Winnipeg School Division’s 150th anniversary last year, Garden Grove School is participating in a challenge focusing on 150 acts of kindness, empathy and action that are school-based, community-based or global.

It’s student-driven, so a class or child sets a goal and works to complete it. Finished goals get showcased on a bulletin board.

As for the Unity Challenge, the kids are hoping to pursue another similar project in the future.

“We really helped change lives through teamwork and being kind,” Grade 6 student Chris Kirk said. “We did everything we could, and it feels good that we can change someone’s life. How would we feel if we didn’t have any food, but people gave us as much food as we gave them?”