This year, a record number of schools from all areas of the province are asking for help to feed and clothe students, with requests to The Vancouver Sun totalling almost $2 million.
Four Lower Mainland schools received hundreds of gifts from London Drugs this week for distribution among students and families in need as part of its annual commitment to The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School campaign.
“This is one of the best things I love about this job,” said Jono Dempsey, a social media rep with the company as he unloaded cartons of merchandise at CABE Secondary in Coquitlam.
CABE is an alternative school that also has a nursery for the babies of mothers attending classes there.
The cartons of gifts included toys for babies as well as toiletries and personal hygiene products for their mothers.
Grooming and personal care products for students who have difficulty buying them were part of the holiday hampers sent home with them when school closed for Christmas holidays.
CABE is asking for $30,000 from the Adopt-A-School campaign this year to help impoverished students with bus fare, provide food for them while in school and at weekends, and for mothers attending the school, help with buying diapers and baby food and other supplies such as non-prescription medicine.
“We have many students who need bus passes to get to school, but can’t afford them,” said CABE principal Sandi Lauzon. “We take students from across the Tri-Cities (area). Many live in Port Coquitlam and travel 20 kilometres on public transit — over an hour each way — taking two buses and the SkyTrain.
“We work with students who have food insecurity, and we not only provide meals during school time but provide weekend care packages, weekly hampers and other personal items to support families in need and students in care.”
The school plans to use $5,000 from Adopt-A-School to set up a bicycle maintenance and repair shop that will teach students how to refurbish broken bikes.
“It’s an opportunity for some students to learn a skill they can use for employment when they leave school,” said Lauzon. “We really appreciate all the help we get from Adopt-A-School.”
The other schools that received help from London Drugs were Surrey Safe Schools WRAP program, Surrey’s Old Yale Road Elementary, and Sir Charles Tupper Secondary in Vancouver.
These three schools all receive funding from Adopt-A-School as they support some of the students most in need in the Lower Mainland.
This year, a record number of schools from all areas of the province are asking for help to feed and clothe students with requests to The Vancouver Sun totalling almost $2 million.
Adopt-A-School is administered by The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund and has distributed more than $8 million to schools since the appeal began 10 years ago.
The money is sent to teachers who, when finding children and families in need of food or other necessities due to poverty, can offer immediate help.
CABE FUNDRAISING PAGE HERE
By Gerry Bellett (gbellett@gmail.com)