Mississauga Grade 12 student Madelen May Baylon packed the food according to the size of the family. The Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School student is part of a volunteer charity program that helps feed families in need.
“It was a great experience to know that I am helping another family out there even though I don’t see them in person,” she said.
Baylon said the program helped develop her leadership qualities by taking more initiative within the group.
The charity program helps students complete their volunteer hours by making meals for five to six families. The school’s Chaplaincy Leader Andria Bancheri said Pocock works closely with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The charity seemed to be a natural extension of the society’s programs.
Food for Families is a volunteer opportunity open to any student. Participants are asked to donate $5 because the program has no budget.
“We were trying to brainstorm a few ideas of how the school can contribute more to St. Vincent de Paul, and a lot of my students asking about volunteer opportunities,” she said. “Especially after COVID, the Grade 12’s last year lost so much time of being able to volunteer.”
The program has been running for two years, and it happens twice per school semester, Bancheri said.
She was not the only staff member helping run Food for Families. Eric Olmedo, the acting Hospitality and Tourism Teacher at Pocock, said about 20 to 25 students volunteered to make fresh meals.
“The pasta was dried pasta, but everything else was from scratch,” he said. “So, the [salad] dressing was from scratch, the salad, tomato sauce, the muffins, and COBS Bread Bakery also donated some bread.”
Throughout the day, three to five students come down to the kitchen during the class period they prefer and complete various tasks before the meals go out to the families, Olmedo said.
Students like Νevaeh Jayla Hunter said working in a team dynamic was both a strength and a weakness.
“I tend to like working alone, but I did thrive when I was working in a team. It was definitely hard cooperating with everyone,” she said.
It’s a good feeling working with others when making food to help families in need, Hunter said.
”I was able to gain more food-making experience overall…and I was able to meet new people while I did it,” Hunter said.
Student volunteer Felicity Tomé said Food for Families gave her a sense of maturity.
“It’s allowed me to be more responsible because you’re handling food for other people, and it gave me a sense that I’m doing something that’s going to help myself in the future because you don’t know what someone is going through so I wanted to help them out,” she said.
Being able to help and provide for someone who doesn’t have the same things as others makes her happy, Tomé said.
“I think a strength I developed was allowing me to think about what I want to do because I wanted to go into the hospitality industry,” Tomé said.
John Menary picking up the meals at the front of Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School. At the end of the day, Menary arrives at the high school and delivers the food to the families. Photo credit: Andria Bancheri
John Menary, a Society of St. Vincent de Paul member, said his role in Food for Families is organizing the families and delivering the meals.
“Pocock is the only school we know of and are partnered with that does Food for Families,” he said.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the families that are getting the meals are very thankful for the generosity of Philip Pocock, Menary said.