Barrie students join forces to tackle food insecurity
Students from various high schools across Barrie are working together to tackle food insecurity.
Thanks to a $5,000 grant from United Way, students have built and filled food pantries around the city.
"Until I was invited into this project, I had no idea how bad it was. I believe it's something like one in five homes struggle with food security," says Barrie North Collegiate student Lucas Grieve.
Construction technology students from Eastview and Innisdale Secondary schools designed and constructed the boxes.
"We tried to help make the boxes and the sides and the top of it, little cuts and stuff," says Innisdale Secondary School student Ciarra Norton.
While Innisdale's Global Perspectives class was responsible for collecting food, with a little help from the Barrie Food Bank.
"We had a budget of $2,000, so we went to Costco, No Frills, and Lowblaws. And we kind of chose the foods that were most important," says Innisdale student Sydney Paemurd.
"We have to think about the seasons and what's going to be suitable during the summer versus the winter. So, the students did some research on that. We gave them some guidance in terms of what's working. We don't want things that are going to spoil in the pantry," says Barrie Food Bank executive director Sharon Palmer.
Palmer says because not everyone can visit the food bank during their open hours, having 24/7 access to emergency items is a game changer.
"As we know, there's lots of people experiencing homelessness around the city, and those people need help wherever they can get it," says Palmer.
Students also created brochures listing various community resources to place at the pantries.
"We have the locations of the food banks, and we've got different sections... we have stuff for harm reduction, crisis's, food, housing, mental health," says Innisdale student Leah Potje.
Currently, over six food pantries are set up throughout the community. As donations come in, students will continue to stock them as needed.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.
'It was hell': Israeli mother held hostage with her children describes 51 days in captivity
Hagar Brodutch, her three children and four-year-old neighbour were kidnapped by Hamas-led militants from their home in Kfar Aza, Israel on Oct. 7 and held for 51 days. They were released in November, but Brodutch says her thoughts are never far from those still being held in Gaza.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Teen dies after being hit by train in N.W. Calgary
A teenager has died after being hit by a train in northwest Calgary on Tuesday afternoon.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
'It's his vacation too': Jimmy the baby goat joins 2-week road trip across Canada
After Jimmy the baby goat was shunned by his mother, a New Brunswick man took the kid on a two-week road trip across Canada.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there’s a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.