When it comes to Grade 7 students, the option of a shopping trip might not seem too far fetched an idea for an excursion.
Add to the experience about 30 students from St. Mary Catholic School and a small army of emergency responders from the OPP, the local fire department and EMS personnel – all shopping for groceries to help others in the community – and the Shop with a Cop event was food for thought.
Hosted at the Mount Forest Foodland, students were teamed up with emergency responders in 10 teams of three and provided with $100 from the local TD-Canada Trust branch to shop for food destined for the local food bank.
The premise of the program was for each team to shop closest to the $100 without going over and with students not using calculators to keep tabs on what they were purchasing.
The teams were given the task of shopping for a given group – a family of three, four and even seven. Just prior to the event they put together shopping lists to guide them through the Foodland aisles to pick up items to put in their carts.
“The closest team to get to $100 without going over gets bragging rights,” principal Brian Munaro told students at the store after they had been dropped off in cruisers and fire trucks.
Munaro said the event was an opportunity for his students to learn about the community and how to shop with a restricted budget. It also gave them some insight into how those on limited incomes might experience grocery shopping.
TD bank manager Elizabeth Wolff said the $1,000 donation from the bank is part of programs it supports to teach financial literacy, music and about the environment.
“You get financial literacy for the food going back to the food bank,” she said. “It gives back to the community. We gave them a scenario for who they have to buy for and how long $100 (in food) is going to last.”
The event also gave students an opportunity to meet emergency responders they wouldn’t normally meet or know.
EMS worker Amy Benn headed up one of the teams and made the trip from the school with students sitting in the back of a cruiser.
“I told the girls in the back that this is the last time I want to see them in a cruiser,” Benn joked.
Foodland co-owner Mike Armstrong also noted the event gave students a chance to talk with emergency workers and police officers.
“I think this is just awesome,” he said. “The kids are going to tell their parents and friends that they spent an hour with the police and personally thought it was great.”
His wife and fellow co-owner Carol agreed.
“I think they did great for their first try at this,” said Carol.
Wolff said she approached Mayor Ray Tout about an event the bank could donate to. The Shop with a Cop idea came up after further discussions with Wellington OPP Inspector Scott Lawson.
Marg Rapp of the local food bank also appreciated the event and food collected for the less fortunate in the community.
According to Tout, the same event will be repeated in the future with students at Kenilworth Public School, Victoria Cross Public School in Mount Forest and Arthur Public School.
Student Luke Cowen and his teammates Braden Droog and Noah Mclean came in slightly above the $100 maximum. The team was shopping for a family of four.
“All this food we got would probably last them a week,” Cowen said.
The team of Stevie Thring, Alexis McGill and Meagan Benn came closest to the mark among the 10 teams with a final shopping tab of $99.69 for a family of three.
