ELORA – St. Mary Catholic School here is among nearly 100 schools across Wellington County, Guelph and Dufferin County participating in Live Free Day.
St. Mary students Rylie Anselmini, Annabelle Smith, Zoe Backer and Leanne Vervoort are part of the team that lends their time as student volunteers to the Food and Friends program at the school.
“Live Free Day is a day where you give up something special to you to support hungry children who aren’t able to provide food,” Vervoort explained.
“Students’ parents have previously bought hamburgers for Monday – March 7 is when we’re doing Live Free Day – and they get hamburgers, and all of the proceeds go to the Food and Friends team to provide healthy, nutritious meals for students in need.”
The initiative, which the school participates in each year, is run through the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington.
March 4 marks the official date of the Live Free campaign.
Bobbi Turner, student nutrition program manager for Food and Friends in Wellington County, said the goal was to raise enough funds for 30,000 meals in 30 days.
As of March 2, Turner said the Children’s Foundation was about $2,500 away from that goal, which doesn’t include what the schools have raised.
The Live Free campaign is an annual fundraising campaign for the foundation’s school Food and Friends programs.
It’s up to the individual school how they want to run the Live Free Day, Turner said, as long as they’re getting the Live Free messaging out to parents and students in the community.
The idea around the campaign is that students and staff pledge to give something up for the day, something they might take for granted or that others live without, she explained.
They then donate a toonie to that campaign and all funds raised within the schools stays within that school to support their own nutrition programs.
The volunteers at St. Mary explained many students were giving up screen time, a device or junk food.
Anselmini said she hopes her peers will understand “not all children are able to have what they have, and they should be grateful to have what they do have.”
As part of the Food and Friends program, the girls help hand out food for some people that don’t have lunches or snacks.
The Live Free campaign is an annual campaign that supports the Children’s Foundation’s student nutrition programs to help them raise needed funds for Food and Friends programs. Photo by Paige Peacock
“We’re hoping that having the snack bins for them will give them more energy and give them more focus on their work and a better day at school,” Smith explained.
They really enjoying volunteering, the girls said, adding “it feels good,” knowing they’re making a difference in the lives of their peers.
“We have a tremendous group of Grade 7 students who take a great deal of pride in running our Food and Friends program as well as our Live Free Day,” said Justin DiLoreto, principal at the school.
“Having such a committed and dedicated team really does a lot to build community and demonstrate a sense of belonging.”
The Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington currently has 103 programs across Guelph, Wellington and Dufferin that participate in the Live Free campaign each year.
Turner noted Wellington County has a program in every school except one.
On behalf of the Children’s Foundation, Turner expressed her thanks to the community and parents for supporting the campaign.
“I think with the pandemic too, families are struggling even more,” she explained.
“So food support has been so important and has kind of come to the forefront of what families are struggling with.”
With food costs continuing to rise, Turner said it’s becoming a lot more difficult for families to stretch that dollar to put food on the table.
“Without this Live Free campaign, we wouldn’t be able to feed as many children and youth as we’re feeding because we just wouldn’t have the funding to or capacity to do that.”
The Live Free campaign is the foundation’s only major fundraiser for its Food and Friends program.
“When the students get involved in volunteering for the program, they really take pride in it and ownership of it,” Turner said.
“If we can pull those kids out and give them this job, they take pride in that, and it gives them this that sense of belonging to the school and to their school community.”
People may not realize the significance of food insecurity in Wellington County, Turner explained.
“And by people donating that toonie it makes a world of difference for a child – it completely changes their day,” she said.
To put it into dollar amounts, Turner said a $10 donation would provide breakfasts for four to five children.
“Ten dollars maybe isn’t much to somebody, but it’s made a big difference in [four] different children’s days,” she explained.
Donations for Live Free can be made at the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington’s website.
