Flashing police lights and sirens drew attention to last week's ‘Cruisin for Christmas’ food and fundraising event in the Britton’s Your Independent Grocer’s parking lot. The annual event, held this year on December 16, and hosted by students from Lac La Biche’s J.A. Williams High School, aims to fill police vehicles with much-needed food items and donations. The event supports community shelters and a student food bank during the holiday season.
With the assistance of the local RCMP, Lac La Biche County peace officers, community members and the school's students, this year’s event raised $750 and stuffed the contents of 144 pre-packaged boxes of food inside several police vehicles, said Lisa Dribnenki, the JAWS career counsellor and Off-Campus co-ordinator.
“We started at 10:30 a.m. and we were getting monetary donations, but primarily got a lot of food donations. Our goal was to fill the three cruisers with as much as we can—and we did that and more.”
This year, through the purchase of varying sizes of food box donations, grabbing some delicious $3-a-bag popcorn, and sticker messages that shoppers could contribute to, the community helped to support the fundraiser in multiple ways while joining in on the holiday spirit, she said.
“What Britton’s Your Independent Grocers did, is have customers purchase $5, $10 or $20 boxes to be filled later, then they will package and deliver all the items based on what’s gone through the till, so we are actually able to know how many items were purchased that way—not just throwing things in the cruisers.”
Local charities being supported through this year's food drive are the Lakeland Out of the Elements Shelter Society, Hope Haven Women’s Shelter, and the Portage College Foodbank to support community members throughout the holiday and beyond, she said.
Community cooperation
Behind the scenes, said Dribnenki, the school’s career and life management class prepared and labeled hundreds of boxes the prior evening and helped during the day alongside the JAWS Interact Club.
Working alongside community partners gives the students a good understanding of the community’s need to help others.
“Our focus in the school is preparing our students as best as we can for the real world. Experiences like this offer them that insight. It’s just as important to have the students give back to the community in some respect, while building relationships—that we want to grow—with the peace officers, RCMP and for the community to see them involved in this positive event,” Dribnenki said.
For Lac La Biche RCMP Const. Cassandra Calverley, supporting the local community is a part of the RCMP’s core values.
“It’s a huge part of our training to have a community focus. It’s really heavily encouraged—right from our first day of training—to get involved in your new community and to give back,” she said, explaining that the timing of the event is intended to affect the most people as possible. “Especially at this time of the year—we do have more people going to local shelters, not just with the weather, but family-time can be a more difficult time as well. Sometimes we do see an increase in domestic violence and people needing help from our women’s shelter. At Christmas, they are busier and that’s why they need help.”
That willingness to help is another lesson the students learn outside of the classrooms, says Dribnenki.
“During Christmas, it’s about giving, a time of sharing, helping each other —as a school and community, we offer hope to individuals who might need that at this time of the year.”
