FERGUS – A group of dedicated students at JD Hogarth Public School is working hard to ensure the community pantry on Belsyde Avenue stays stocked.
The students are in the school’s Equity and Inclusion Club, and one of the club’s goals this year is to raise awareness about the Community Food Cupboard in front of Faith Lutheran Church.
The pantry is important, student Sophia Szczepko told the Advertiser, “so that, especially around the holiday season, everyone has an accessible way to get food.”
Student Aspen Carolus said she likes to support the pantry because “I want to make life easier for other people and make sure everyone has a chance for success in life.”
Student Norah said she’s involved because she wants to “make the community a better place.”
The pantry was initially dreamed-up by a class of Grade 7 JD Hogarth students about three years ago, said teacher Nava Zarrabi-Yan.
With an experiential learning grant from the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB), the students built a wooden cupboard themselves, and reached out to church officials to ask if it could be installed on their property.
Until recently, the cupboard had a door to keep donations dry, but the door was ripped off during the tornado that tore through Fergus last month.
The equity club will be using a portion of a recent UGDSB experiential learning grant of $1,000 to replace the cupboard door, Szczepko said.
Unlike a food bank, the Community Food Cupboard is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Its location makes it easy for JD Hogarth’s community members to swing by before or after school, whether to drop off donations or pick up supplies, Norah said.
It also offers some anonymity, student Sofie Berard noted, as people can causally walk by and pick things up without being noticed.
The pantry is so well-used that the church community was struggling to keep it stocked, said teacher Sydney Sargent, and that’s why the equity club decided to step in and help out.
It was student Anya Upadhyay’s idea to reach out to the Advertiser about the community pantry, which she said felt important because “some people don’t have enough money for what they need, so it’s important for people to know about it because it’s always there for them.”
The pantry shelves are filled regularly with nonperishable foods as well as hygiene items, and anyone is welcome to stop by to pick up some necessities or drop off donations.
Items in high demand include beans, tinned meat and toiletries, which have been “getting really expensive,” Szczepko noted.
The students recently left a hairbrush in the pantry, and it was gone the next day, Norah added.
Student Kayden Thompson created a schedule for when different classes would contribute to the pantry, in order to ensure there is a steady stream of donations to keep the shelves stocked.
The classes drop the donations off during equity club meetings, Szczepko said, and club members bring the donations out to the pantry.
The equity club’s work goes beyond the community pantry – it organizes events, including a cultural assembly, and is currently putting together a slideshow presentation showing how different cultures celebrate holidays at this time of year, Norah said.
This includes the Chinese New Year, Hanukkah, Diwali and Yule, Szczepko noted.
Its a student-led group, Thompson said, with the teachers “there to help us with what we want to do.”
This is the first year JD Hogarth has offered an Equity and Inclusion club, Zarrabi-Yan noted, and it was inspired by last year’s pride club.
The old pride club split into two, with one half continuing as a space to hangout and build community, and the Equity and Inclusion Club forming as more of an action-based group, she said.
There is significant overlap in membership between the two clubs.
Norah said being part of the equity club means you can work together with the group to make an important difference. “Even if you’re sad, it makes you feel a bit better because you’re part of something bigger.”
It shows the students “you can do something that can change people’s lives,” Berard said.
“It feels good to be part of a club this important that can help the community,” Carolus added.
“When you donate something, it feels good in you,” Upadhyay said.
