Nose Creek Elementary School students harvested more than 1,500 pounds of potatoes for the Airdrie Food Bank as part of their GROW (Gardens Replenish Our World) project on Oct. 4.
The group of more than 100 Grade 4 students made their way to a farm in Crossfield in the early morning hours of Oct. 4.
The farm is owned by Nose Creek Elementary art teacher Wendy Dixon and her husband Ken, who donated the space to the students for their project.
The GROW project started five years ago and operates in a cyclical, pay it forward structure, where the previous yearís Grade 4 class will plant the potatoes in June when their school year ends and the following Grade 4 class harvests them in October.
This year, students harvested enough potatoes to feed 200 families, which will go a long way to helping out those in need this Thanksgiving, according to Airdrie Food Bank Executive Assistant Sue Methuen.
ìItís amazing to see the work that these children have done,î said Methuen.
ìTo have our young generations lending a hand to those in need is great to see.î
Student Kohl Kabatoff said he had fun being out of school and working at a farm, but was also cognizant of how his efforts would benefit others.
ìItís a good thing to help the food bank and to give back to the community,î said Kabatoff.
Kabatoffís schoolmate Carsyn Crawford echoed his friendís statement and explained the importance of the work they were doing.
ìSome people donít have a lot of money or food so thatís why weíre helping the food bank,î said Crawford.
Robert MacLellan, a Child Development Associate (CDA) at Nose Creek School, has helped students lead the charge on a number of community initiatives at the school as part of their Me to We project.
ìItís the kids who generate the ideas for these projects,î said MacLellan. ìThey come to the staff with their ideas and we help make it happen. With this GROW project, theyíve taken the idea of a food drive one step further. Many schools do food drives, but with this project the kids are out there getting their hands dirty and seeing their hard work go to a worthy cause.î
The students at Nose Creek School have developed a partnership with the Airdrie Food Bank and many of them volunteer on a weekly basis.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner and Christmas on the horizon, this is the busiest season of the year for the Airdrie Food Bank, according to Methuen. That notion was not lost on Nose Creek student Macy Mulholland.
ìIt was fun for us to all work together as a team,î said Mulholland. ìNow everyone can have a nice Thanksgiving dinner.î
