Mia Evashenko, Quinn Fyfe, Sarah Grauman, and Selina Kermani show a little hard work and generosity make a big impact
Lord Selkirk Regional Comprehensive Secondary School students Mia Evashenko, Quinn Fyfe, Sarah Grauman, and Selina Kermani were able to celebrate the end of a semester of hard work last week when they made a generous donation to the Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen. The students, who are all in Grade 12, embarked on a class project that raised $606 and a lot of smiles at the soup kitchen.
Our Daily Soup Kitchen volunteers Shannon Paskaruk, Barb Pasaur, Nancy Desrosiers, and Austin McDuff with LSRCSS students Mia Evashenko, Quinn Fyfe, Sarah Grauman, and Selina Kermani as the students made their cheque presentation
“For our (French) global issues class, this is our Take Action Project, where you pick a global issue and then you take action to help it. We chose hunger in the community. So then, we decided to do a bunch of bake sales and then all the money we made, we would collect, and then we would give back to the soup kitchen. That way we’re helping, taking action and giving back to help hunger in the community,” said Fyfe.
The students’ bake sales themselves raised awareness for the issue, hopefully reminding people in our community that hunger is still experienced by many, and the funds raised directly benefited our community, making their project have double the impact.
Grauman explained that the students knew that they couldn’t fight global hunger, but that this project shows the impact that can be made if people make an effort to support their community.
“We can’t eliminate it, so we’re going to try and help as much as we can to support them (the people who used the soup kitchen) so that people can get the food that they need,” she said.
To raise this money, the students hosted three bake sales over the past several months at Memorial Hall in Selkirk and also at the Comp. Memorial Hall is also the location where the soup kitchen takes place from Monday to Friday during lunchtime, so that residents who need food can get a delicious and nutritious meal.
“(We chose) bake sales as it was easy, it was accessible, it was something we all had time to do, and people love to buy baked goods. Another thing was the fact that there were a bunch of bake sales going on at the time. The first one we did was with the Navy League, and I’m affiliated with the cadets, so that was really easy for me to just ask them, ‘Hey, could I have a table?’ And then, a lot of the community members were there, so that way we could get our cause out to the community while raising money,” said Evashenko.
Kermani says that the preparation for the sales stood out to her and involved planning and baking before the big sales days.
“I think the preparation for the bake sales is what is in my head the most, because we were all very busy, and we would spend, right after school, like a straight six hours of baking and get home at 11 p.m. We’d plan everything, make everything, buy everything. The first bake sale was here (at Memorial Hall), and I think that’s when we made the most,” she said.
Some of the tempting treats were brownies, cookies and more, but there was a variety.
“Every sale, we had slightly different things, that way, we could get more people to come in,” said Fyfe.
Grauman said that once the baking part was over, the sales themselves were quite a bit of fun.
“I was with my friends, so it was a bake sale with your friends on a weekend, and you’re having fun. But also, when people asked us about (global hunger), it was honestly really nice to talk about why we’re doing it because we’re passionate about helping our community. It felt really good to be helping, to do something fun and be able to help someone,” she said.
The students were very happy to be able to make the presentation to the soup kitchen.
“It’s so fun to present (the donation) now, and actually give back, after all of our work and see how grateful and nice everyone is coming to the soup kitchen. We’re seeing that this donation that we are giving is going to make a difference here. It will help keep running the soup kitchen. Clearly, they’re doing great things,” said Evashenko.
They encourage their fellow classmates to also do projects like this that help their community if they get a chance to.
“Doing what we did, it was a lot of work, but when you have a group of people, you can make something like this happen. You persevere, and even if it might seem small, like, ‘Oh, it’s a bake sale,’ but it stacks up. Like, $600 after three bake sales is great. And, it might seem like a small impact, but even small actions make a huge impact and a change in the community. I think, if everyone did that, that would make a really big difference,” said Kermani.
As for that impact, Barb Pasaur, Co-chair of Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, says that all donations are amazing and seeing these students put in the hard work was great.
“I’m always blown away by the dedication of young people, just the caring, the fact that they can come together as a group and do something nice for other people, people they don’t even know. It just blows me away,” said Pasaur.
If you are a resident who could be helped by a nutritious lunch, the soup kitchen takes place at Memorial Hall, Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. They also serve coffee on weekdays starting at 10 a.m. Volunteers and donations are always helpful, especially this time of year, after the generosity of the holiday season slows. To find more information about how to donate, volunteer, or learn more about the soup kitchen, check them out online at ourdailybreadselkirk.com.
