It wasn’t a new idea, but it was one that has stuck with a southern Alberta woman for decades.
Emily Coomes recalls her childhood when she was involved in an initiative to keep the roads safe for everyone.
“When I was a child growing up, the elementary school I (attended) helped (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). They did a Christmas awareness where the kids coloured on bags and it went to the liquor stores and the parents would see that, so they weren’t drinking and driving at Christmas time,” said Coomes.
Now, years later, Coomes is living and working in Magrath, Alta., as the manager at Rooster’s Country Marketplace, a grocery store. When her boss, Jay Mackenzie, wanted to raise funds for the Community Food Pantry, run by SASH, a disability supports service, Coomes had just the idea.
“My manager, Emily, came up with this great idea where we could get the kids from the elementary school involved. So, I purchased an entire case of paper bags and we took it over (to Magrath Elementary School). They were more than happy to decorate the bags. Then, we sold the bags for two bucks a piece,” said Mackenzie.
Approximately 500 students from pre-kindergarten to Grade 6 designed bags and every single one was sold. As a result, over $800 was raised for the community food pantry, which Mackenzie then rounded up to a solid $1,000 donation.
“In a small town community, if you need to access food, quite often you don’t have the money to get to a larger centre to access that, so being here and local, being able to access, we have people who walk, people who drive, but Jay approaching us was very much a benefit to the pantry,” said James Price, the coordinator of community access at SASH in Magrath.
As for the students, it was a worthy cause to get behind.
“It feels good to be helping our community out for the food hampers,” said Liam Stanford, a student at the elementary school.
For school principal Julie Gilson, it’s about getting the kids involved early so they grow up understanding the importance of caring for neighbours.
“I think that it goes well that we teach our kids from a very young age at the school and in our community that we help each other out when we need it.”
All parties say they are hopeful this becomes an annual initiative in the future.