Students at Westmount School have found a way to give a hand up to the hungry in their community.
The school’s Little Free Pantries program was launched on June 21, by Grade 6 classes at Westmount School. Students spent most of their school year working toward making the Little Free Pantries a reality, from researching and developing the concept to finding sponsorship, getting Town council approval, building and installing the boxes.
An opening ceremonies and ribbon-cutting at the location of the pantry, near Lions Park Campground, capped off the year-long project.
“It was really cool to see the pantry actually getting put up, and putting the food in it and cutting the ribbon, and seeing the project all come together at the end,” said student Kayla Gagnon. “It was really exciting to see all of our hard work finally be right there in front of our eyes.”
The Little Free Pantries are designed to work similarly to Little Free Libraries – those in need of food can help themselves, and those able to donate can place non-perishable food items in the boxes. Currently, one is located near the walking path behind Lions Park, in Woodhaven, and another at the fire hall on Milligan Drive.
Gagnon was part of the team responsible for putting together a summer schedule to monitor the pantries while school is out. Grade 6 families signed up to check in on the boxes throughout the break to look out for vandalism, inappropriate or expired donations, or empty boxes.
She said they hope the community will bind together and help ensure the project is a success moving forward.
“It’s neighbours helping neighbours, so we’re hoping if people see it’s not very full they’ll fill it up and everyone will contribute to the project, so everyone will pitch in,” said Gagnon.
The students also established a partnership with the Okotoks Food Bank to help watch the boxes and keep the shelves stocked if necessary.
Food bank executive director Sheila Hughes said volunteers will be assigned to monitor the pantries to ensure they’re full and check for expired items or food that may have been affected by severe heat or cold.
She said she was impressed by the presentation the Grade 6 students gave in April to town council, and didn’t hesitate to jump on board.
“They came at it from all different angles and I think they did a really good job of researching it and making it work,” said Hughes. “It was a good solid project and we’re behind it 100 per cent.”
She said the Little Free Pantries could bring a little more anonymity to those who still struggle to walk into the food bank, despite efforts to make people feel as comfortable as possible.
It can also bridge the gap if someone has to wait a while for their hamper appointment at the food bank or just needs to put a meal on the table for one night, she said.
She said it could take a while for the Little Free Pantries to really get off the ground as a new project, but she hopes to see the community stand behind them.
“We’re going to promote it, and I think the community will get behind this,” said Hughes. “It’s a great program and I think there will be benefits to our community from it.”
Spreading the word and ensuring people understand what the pantries are all about was part of Matthew Chant’s job on the communications and marketing team at Westmount.
“My role was to get all the information out to the people for all the town to know what was happening and why we’re doing it,” said Chant. “I hope people come out and participate and help us keep it full.”
He said the opening ceremony was promising, with people bringing so many donations of food that some was actually taken straight to the food bank because it couldn’t fit in the pantry boxes.
The boxes were built by students themselves, with design help from sponsor Broadview Homes, which also provided a prototype and materials for the students to build their own pantries.
Kelsey Saunders, part of the building team, said they started by researching safety tools before learning how to put together the pantries.
“It was really cool to learn how to build them and put them together,” said Saunders. “And then to see a project we started early in the year and actually followed it through to get it done and make sure it’s finished, and has food in it, that was really good.”
Kurt Hymanyk was part of the team responsible for presenting the Little Free Pantries project to Town council in April.
“The best part for me was when Town council have a unanimous decision to let it go forward,” said Hymanyk. “That was a good accomplishment for the council team, so it was great.
“It was also cool because Mayor Bill Robertson said it was one of the best presentations that had come to council in a while that he had seen. That was a really good experience.”
He said he hopes the Little Free Pantries project inspires others to do more good in the community and come up with ways to help others.
Amitesh Nair agreed, saying he hopes the pantries will be used regularly.
“Sometimes before you do it you’re wondering if people will actually use it, but then you start to see how much everyone cares,” said Nair. “I really hope people will use it and it will actually help them.”
