For Avery Robinson, the school project went beyond her expectations. As part of her religious studies class at Woodland Christian High School in Breslau, Robinson undertook a food drive for Woolwich Community Services, collecting 354 pounds of food.
“I did not have a specific goal. I honestly wasn’t expecting the response that I received. So even though I didn’t have a set goal, what I received did surpass my expectations of ‘a little school project,’” she explained.
The project required Robinson to do something within her community and also gave her the opportunity to help those in need.
“I’ve always wanted to get involved with a food bank since I was a kid, so I thought ‘why not now?’”
Robinson did the drive over two Saturdays in April. On the first, she delivered posters explaining her project, and the top five needed items for the food bank, to homes within her community. She returned the next week to collect the donations. She then logged the items to make it easier on the food bank.
The top five items collected were baking items, 66.3 pounds; juice, 46.5 pounds; canned fruit, 42.5 pounds; 28.6 pounds of canned vegetables and 25.6 pounds of canned soup. In total she collected 330 items.
While Robinson did receive some guidance from Woolwich Community Services, she took charge and did most of the project on her own, said food bank coordinator Lisa Martin.
“It’s extremely exciting when youth get involved when they take the initiative to help others in the community and learn more about the food bank. They’re learning what the food bank is and it’s an OK thing to use. That ‘s it here to help people wherever they’re at, and it gets them a better feel of what we do,” Martin said.
Robison’s food drive is just one of many ways that Woolwich youth have supported the food bank, Martin added.
“They’ve supported us with birthday parties instead of having gifts they do donations to us. We just had recently, young girls that have been selling homemade bracelets and water and snacks and bought the needed items at the grocery store with the money that they had raised,” she explained.
“Some youth have used garage sales to raise funds, while others donated a different item each day while following an advent calendar,” Martin said.
“And then you have some younger children that the parents just give them the challenge to find one item in the grocery store that has our tag on it. I love when people take these initiatives like Avery…and just do with the tools that they have right in what they’re capable of,” said Martin.
While helping others has always been something she liked doing, this project allowed an excuse to do more, Robinson said.
“It’s payback, in a way. It’s just nice knowing that you’re helping people around you by doing something small. This was just a school project. It wasn’t something huge that I did, it was just to make a poster to spread the word and collect [the donations].”
The food drive also forced Robinson to step outside of her comfort zone.
“I’m a pretty shy person, so going out on the first week was really scary for me. I was like, ‘I’m about to go to like 90 houses of random people I don’t know in my neighbourhood.’ And it was definitely nerve racking, but it was easier the second time around since I knew what to expect. It was definitely a challenge for me,” Robinson said.
“Facing your fears can lead to good,” she added.
Robinson said she learned that people in the community are willing to help out if given a chance to do so.
“Utilize the resources around you. …People are happy to help, you just need to ask.”
