GUELPH – The Grade 10 Foods and Nutrition course at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Secondary School prepared food for 100 people at the Royal City Mission as a Wellington Catholic District School Board and local Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association initiative.
In an effort to provide opportunities for students to live out the Catholic social justice teachings and support members of the community who are experiencing hardship, students from each of the Wellington Catholic DSB secondary schools have the opportunity to cook a delicious meal for the Royal City Mission.
“This is an initiative we wanted to be a part of last year and are happy to continue on with it this year,” shared Andrea Dickie, teacher of the class at Lourdes.
“Any opportunity for us to get to cook in this class is nice and when we are working towards a higher purpose, to do something that is community outreach, it helps the students to feel connected in the community.”
For this specific drop off, the students prepared chili, salad and cookies for the Royal City Mission.
“Honestly it makes me feel great that I am helping as much as I can,” shared Henen Eklab, one of the student cooks from the class.
“As best as I can I’m trying not to make a mistake.”
Creating an opportunity for students to connect and give back in class creates much more than just awareness, providing clear action they can take to help those in our community.
“We feel great as a school doing it,” said Dickie.
Through a combined effort, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association and Wellington Catholic DSB Food and Hospitality courses coordinate and run three meals a month at the Royal City Mission.
In 2022, they will have served meals for more than 3,000 people.
