Christian Gammon-Roy
Tribune
Once again, the Thanksgiving long weekend was preceded by a massive outpouring of generosity in West Nipissing, as Franco-Cité high school undertook its annual food drive for the WN Food Bank. With the food bank recently calling out for help as they were having trouble keeping shelves stocked, the community responded with unprecedented support, giving over ten tons of food as well as monetary donations.
“We have surpassed previous heights,” exclaimed Yves Lafrenière, organizer and teacher at Franco-Cité. Indeed the drive, called “Une canne ça dépanne”, amassed 21,086 lbs of food and $2,550 in cash.
The effort began on Wednesday, October 5 as students, including several from local feeder schools, went door to door throughout West Nipissing to collect the food donations. People were also invited to give cash donations by e-transfer. All of the food was brought to the school gym to be transported to the food bank, on the corner of Nipissing and Third Street (basement of the former Resurrection church), the next day.
It what has become a custom and a symbol of the Thanksgiving spirit of sharing, students formed a human chain to pass the food down for delivery. Sadly, on October 6, inclement weather forced them to do the chain inside the school rather than outside. Still, the food got loaded and sent to its destination.
