Students roll up sleeves for festive food drive

For the second successive year, Grant High School has run a Community Christmas Food Drive with almost 50 Christmas grocery bags now put together ready to hand out to families.

Grant High School Wellbeing Centre’s Mandy McIntyre said the idea was fostered last year when the school basically reverse engineered the concept behind advent calendars, deciding it was better to give than to receive.

“Instead of giving something every day for a month leading into Christmas, I put it forward that if every student and staff member donated one non-perishable item then we could compile a large amount of groceries to bring Christmas cheer to struggling families.,” Ms McIntyre said. “The whole school is invited to participate but it is by no means compulsory as we understand the current economic struggles facing the wider community.”

The City of Mount Gambier kindly loaned the school five clean recycle bins – one for each Grant High School Community – as collection points which enabled the school to run it as a Community Challenge engaging the competitive spirit in the school.

Kurang emerged as the leader, donating an impressive 188 items, followed by Kabir, Kurra, Marma, and Triyn.

“A heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone who participated in this initiative,” Mrs McIntyre said. “It is our hope that the families receiving these bags experience a more relaxed and joyous Christmas season.”

The wellbeing team and other teaching staff are linked to many families and the wider community and will be able to allocate the 46 grocery bags to families most in need with festive season.