East Edmonton elementary students learn a lesson about giving back

Students at St. Bernadette, an elementary school in Edmonton'sBeverly neighbourhood, learned about what it means to go hungry and not have a home.

Teachers worked in partnership with Santa YEG, a food bank charity, to help studentspack lunches on Tuesday for people who might not be able to otherwise afford it.

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Olivia Kay, a nine-year-old student at St. Bernadette, volunteered along with her mother for Santa YEG last year, and said it was sad for her to meet people that didn't have a house to goto at night.

"After I was watching TV and I was thinking of how they don't get to go home and they don't get to do that kind of stuff," she said. "Thinking of it, I just wanted to cry."

Her mom, Tracy Kay, an educational assistant at St. Bernadette, was one of two staff members who brought the initiative to the school this year.

Kay said she wanted to help build compassion among the students.

"We're all hungry at times, and it doesn't matter what colour your skin is or where you're from," she said."When everyone is happy and giving, and they open their hearts and their minds to other people and use empathy. They look at how they're not so different from everyone else."

More than 200 students from kindergarten through Grade 6crowded into a staff room, making ham and cheese sandwiches and assembling care-packages that included cookies, candy canes and oranges.

The 500 food packages they put together will be sentto three local homeless shelters: Hope Mission, The Mustard Seed and Boyle Street.

Kay started volunteering for Santa YEG last year, after a suggestion from her colleague Lisa Mullen Labossiere. The pair wanted to volunteer to become more involved with the community.

Labossiere said they thought it would be a good opportunity for students, who delivered the packages Tuesday evening.

"It was such a humbling experience," Labossiere said, "We thought we'd love to do it as a school and make a bit of an impactmake it part of our Christmas contribution to Edmonton."

Labossiere and Kay organized another food package event at JJ Bowlen, a junior high school in the McLeod area, set for Dec. 18.

Kay's 13-year-old daughter Alison, willhelp pack lunches along with the other students there.

Olivia said she's grateful she and her sister can be involved in giving back.

"Not every person gets to experience [this], I'm really honoured to be able to do it," she said.