At the end of each month, one class or grade at Wesley leads the effort to raise funds or collect items to help a charity in our local or global community. This event is called “Care & Share Day”. Different charities are chosen to represent diverse projects in order to give our students awareness of local and global needs and to help them realize that effort from children and youth can make a difference. More importantly, we want to encourage them to participate with a loving and servant heart.
At the beginning of September, members of our Grade 4 classes introduced the students in the elementary chapel service to the 105 Challenge for the 105 Gibson Centre Food Bank. Each class was asked to bring 105 or more non-perishable food, personal hygiene or baby items for people in need in our community. Some of our classes are small with only 15 students, but every class was willing to try to meet this goal.
Students brought in items from Monday, September 21 to Wednesday, September 23rd. After lunch on each of the three days, the Grade 4 students collected the donations from the various classrooms and brought them upstairs to their class for sorting. They also packaged every item into boxes for delivery to the 105 Gibson Centre.
Every class had some sort of chart to keep track of the donations as they came in. There were thermometers, a race track, tally marks, blocks that were coloured in house team colours, a giant chocolate chip cookie, and even a picture of a striped girl (from A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon)!
This morning, representatives from our Grade 4 classes shared amazing news with our students at chapel service. As a school, we collected 3132 items! This is an impressive number and we give God the glory for this accomplishment!
We also received a thank you message from the Community Needs Manager at the 105 Gibson Centre. Mrs. Iun referenced it in the presentation this morning. Below is an extract from the email, thanking our community for the donations but also expressing the type of impact it has in providing dignity, hope, and a path forward for people experiencing some of their most difficult moments.
Often, the people reaching out have been hit by an unexpected crisis – a job loss, a medical emergency, or a sudden change in family circumstances. When the unimaginable happens and food insecurity becomes an immediate reality – frequently for the first time in their lives – our food bank team is here to listen, offer support, and help guide them through the storm.
Lok-Ping – Community Needs Manager, 105 Gibson Centre
That is why messages like the one below, received recently from a client who has just secured stable employment and no longer requires our services, bring so much joy to our staff and volunteers:
“During the last year, you had my back. I lost my job two years ago and couldn’t find another one… While I was unemployed, I was doing grocery deliveries – a job that, after paying for gas and insurance, doesn’t pay very much. But every night, after working 14 hours and feeling exhausted, I had food because of you…
You were a light during one of the most difficult times of my life… Thank you for having my back when I needed it.”
I wanted to share this story with you today to show you the direct impact of your kindness. You aren’t just providing meals – you are providing dignity, hope, and a path forward for this client as well as many others during their darkest hour. Your compassion reflects God’s love in tangible ways to those who need it most
Thank you for continuing to stand with our community. May God bless you for your generous heart.
We would like to thank all our Wesley families, teachers and staff who participated in this food drive for 105 Gibson. We would also like to recognize the Grade 7A class, who brought all the heavy boxes from the Grade 4B classroom to the gym and loaded them onto vehicles for delivery to the 105 Gibson Centre. Most of all, we thank God for the privilege of teaching our students to love our neighbours and to be CRISP (Compassion, Respect, Integrity, Servant’s Heart, Perseverance) followers of Christ so that we can be His hands and feet to those around us.