You don’t need a huge bank account or university degree to make a positive impact in your community; in fact, you don’t even need to be finished public school.

Kiril, a grade 5 student at Mary Johnston Public School contacted The Food Bank of Waterloo Region for help with a class project. His teacher, Mr. Kraft, had asked the students to do a project on something that would help the community. Kiril took the project beyond the classroom and got the community involved.

What started as a class project wrapped up with the 11 year old collecting nearly 200 lbs of food – which will provide more than 650 meals – for those in our community needing food assistance.

Aware of The Food Bank – through the bins at the grocery store and school-hosted events – Kiril reached out to learn more about how to support and get involved.

“I was out with my parents and saw a homeless person on the street and I wanted to help,” said Kiril. “I was thinking about the class project and thought since it was the middle of the year The Food Bank probably wasn’t getting a lot of donations.”

Kiril put a plan together to reach out to local grocery stores for donations. “It took a lot of time to plan everything out but I had a lot of fun making my first phone call (to the grocery store to ask for support),” he said.

He was thrilled when four stores provided him with gift cards – in varying amounts – to buy and donate the most needed items.

Kiril’s mother, Irina was pleased the grocery stores were so willing to support the project. “I wasn’t sure how willing to help the stores would be,” she explained. “But they were very open, friendly and willing to provide support.”

It wasn’t until Kiril began working on his class project that he learned his parents received food assistance. “Many, many years ago, when we just arrived in Canada and were settling down, we received food from a food assistance program once or twice,” explained Irina.

She reinforced how important and valuable organizations like The Food Bank are, noting we live in a great country and should always help those who aren’t as fortunate.

Kiril learned how important it is to always give and help those in need. “I will be more generous now and encourage others to be more generous as well,” he said.

Accessing affordable, healthy food is a struggle for many in our community. There are some simple and easy ways you can help:

• Host a lemonade stand, garage sale, BBQ or car wash and donate the proceeds to The Food Bank of Waterloo Region;
• Ask your friends to bring a donation to The Food Bank as a gift to your birthday party.

The opportunities are endless. Learn more about how to get involved by clicking here.