An Education in Giving Back

At The Ottawa Mission, we’re fortunate to have the support of some truly wonderful people in the community.  Some donate every month or hold special fundraising events in the community – others give the gift of their time as volunteers.  Recently we have seen many children reaching out to help The Mission – some of them through activities at their school.  We wanted to highlight a few examples of the amazing school initiatives that have supported The Mission this month alone:

• “Double Lunch Days” started at three Kanata elementary schools last year.  On the designated day, students at St. Gabriel’s, St. Isodore and Georges Vanier schools bring a lunch for themselves and a lunch for someone at The Mission. The students did three Double Lunch Days during the 2012 school year and have again committed to three for the current school year!  Last week, parent volunteers delivered 308 lunches to The Mission.
• Speaking of lunches, last week students at St. Joseph’s High School in Barrhaven set out to match their world record sandwich making attempt from last year. Dozens of St. Joe’s students got together to make almost 4,000 sandwiches for different organizations in the community that help feed people in need.  The Mission received 400 of those sandwiches.
• Students at Ottawa Christian School in Barrhaven took the time this month to gather items for people at The Mission – including school supplies for the men and women studying at The Mission’s Stepping Stones Learning Centre.  Packages of pens, paper and binders were among the donations brought in by a group of OCS students a few days ago.

Thanks to everyone for their efforts to help people in need at The Mission.  Acts of kindness like these help lift their spirits and give them hope for a better future.