Students getting a charitable education

One of the fun parts of my job is getting a chance to meet with so many students who come to Shepherds of Good Hope for a tour.

Regular readers of my blog know I'm a big believer in everyone getting a firsthand look at what we do. We're very well known for being a shelter and a soup kitchen. Food and shelter are indeed two very important things Ottawa's most vulnerable men and women need. But we are so much more and over our 32 years, we have moved beyond a soup kitchen.

Typically students come for a tour because they want to do something for us. They want to give back to those most in need, especially as we get closer to the holidays. They visit because they want to see the impact their donation is going to have. Quite often it inspires them to exceed their original goal.

Depending on the size of the class, students get a tour of the soup kitchen, the food and grocery program and we also give a short presentation on our other services.

This morning students from Pierre Savard School and Immaculata High School were here. Thank you so much everyone for coming out.

Sandwich donation from St. Theresa's Catholic School

Wow! The two Grade 6 classes at St. Theresa's Catholic School outdid themselves this year. The students made more than 600 sandwiches for Shepherds of Good Hope. This is the power of youth. Here are a few photos from this morning's event at the school.

The power of schools

Every now and then I like to talk about the amount of donations and volunteer time students give to us. This morning we had students from Sacred Heart High School in the kitchen helping with meal preparation. Back at the school, students were also preparing sandwiches. Last year, Sacred Heart High School made more than 5,500 sandwiches for us. Thank you so much to the students at Sacred Heart.

Not to be outdone, students at St. Matthew's High School recently had a canned food drive. Here's a photo below that best shows how much came through our drop-off window. Wow! Amazing. Whether it's feeding the men and women who live in the shelter or helping people in the community who need a little extra, donations like this mean the world to us. Thank you so much.

Last week we had the students in Patrick Dumais' class at College catholique Franco-Ouest donate several boxes of vegetables and fruits, plus more than $150, just in time for Thanksgiving.

I want to say thank you to all the schools who have donated food or made sandwiches so far this year.

It's award season for schools

Even though school has only been in session for a few weeks, it's time to honour two schools with the Ottawa Catholic School Board.

At our annual general meeting Tuesday evening, we celebrated the fundraising efforts of St. Francis of Assisi and Sacred Heart High School. The students of St. Francis of Assisi, an elementary school, made more than 2,000 sandwiches last year and also donated several bags of clothing.

Sacred Heart students were honoured for a third year. Their students made more than 5,500 sandwiches last year and also volunteered in our soup kitchen.

Congratulations to Sacred Heart and St. Francis of Assisi. We appreciate very much the effort you made to help us care for Ottawa's homeless men and women.

This year is shaping up to be another banner year. We're barely a month into the school year and several schools have asked about tours and presentations while others have already indicated they are doing food drives in time for Thanksgiving.

The giving has already started at the Ottawa Catholic School Board

Most of us look forward to Fridays. For many of us, it's hopefully the end of a rewarding work week and the signal to some rest and relaxation on the weekend.

I like this particular Friday for another reason. This morning I had the pleasure of meeting with the Ottawa Catholic School Board Director of Education Denise Andre. The Catholic schools do a lot of fundraising for us every school year and I wanted to thank them for their past support and to talk about the upcoming year.

Little did I know they already had donations ready for me to take back to the shelter. The board offices have two very cute baskets at different locations where people can drop off items for Shepherds of Good Hope. We had two large bags filled with toiletries.

Toiletries are expensive and it's natural to forget that homeless men and women need deodorant, toothpaste, etc. So these gifts are very much appreciated. Thank you to the men and women who collected these items.

It's only the first week of school but we've already had several schools approach us about bringing their students on a tour of our facilities. Thank you for reaching out.

Just based on the first few days of the school year, I think we're going to have a great year and a great partnership over the next 10 months. To all the students, we look forward to meeting you in 2015-2016.

If you're a teacher and you would like to visit Shepherds of Good Hope with your students, please contact me at 613-789-8210, ext. 247 or at asilverman@shepherdsofgoodhope.com.

Charlie makes the local newspaper

Charlie, the special six-year-old boy from Renfrew who donated his lemonade stand money to us, was back in the news last week. His hometown newspaper, the Renfrew Mercury, ran a photo on Page 1 followed by a story on an inside page. Click here for the story.

Charlie, you deserve all the accolades you are getting. With the school year just around the corner, I hope you get a chance to talk to your friends at school about how easy it is to help people who have so little.

And speaking of schools, I know it's not what a lot of people think about on such a hot day, but the start of schools is just a few weeks away. This fall, like past years, we'll be reaching out to the schools. So many students and teachers take the time every year to help us either by holding food drives, making sandwiches or raising money.

We're looking forward this year to visiting as many of you as we can. See you in a couple of months.

St. Martin de Porres students shine

I have to tell you about such a wonderful visit I had today at St. Martin de Porres School in Kanata. The JK to Grade 6 school had raised money for Shepherds of Good Hope during Lent and I was there to present a certificate to them and to receive the cheque.

All the children came down to the gymnasium and sat on the floor. Everyone was so kind and interested in learning a little more about us. It was a very excited group. When I asked them questions about their fundraising efforts, dozens of hands shot up. Every one of them is proud of what they accomplished and so they should be.

During Lent, the school had wacky Thursdays. Each week was a different theme. One Thursday was hat day, another was fancy dress day. To participate, the students were asked to bring a loonie or less to class. When Lent was finished, the 370 students had raised more than $1,200.

Teachers play such an important role in our children's lives. Think about it. With the exception of their parents, a child will spend more time with a teacher from age 5 to 17 than anyone else. For teachers to also inspire students to give and to think about others is wonderful. It's nice that we benefited, but it's even more encouraging that these children are being taught that we all have a responsibility to help those who are in times of distress, who don't always have the tools to look after themselves or their families.

A big thank you to St. Martin de Porres students for your generosity.

The lessons of volunteering

Today, six retired Ottawa Catholic School Board principals had a very early start to their day. They came to the soup kitchen and started to peel potatoes and carrots for a stew we’re going to serve at lunch. It’s actually a bigger group of principals but they rotate their visits, coming in several times a year to not only help make the food, but serve it as well.

Two things about their visit stayed with me today. One principal noted that for years she and her students had donated to Shepherds. It might have been canned goods, maybe some clothes for the clothing program. But she thought it was important to donate her time so that she could see the other side, to see what happens with the donation.

The second thing she said was that you never know who you might be serving. It might be a former student from 10 years ago who has since fallen on hard times. Think about that. Homeless people or people who need a meal are you and me. They are people who have fallen on hard times, who are vulnerable, who need our help.

When I heard there was a group of retired principals preparing lunch today, I went downstairs to thank them. It always makes my day better when I can meet the people who give so freely of their times. It's uplifting. But more importantly, it makes a better day for our clients who come in and depend on us for a healthy meal.

If you would like to volunteer with Shepherds of Good Hope, you can visit our volunteer page on our website or contact our Volunteer Services Team at 613-789-8210, ext. 239.  

Holy Trinity School

Today on my regular visit with all of our kitchen volunteers, I met some new friends,  the kids from Holy Trinity School.  They came in to volunteer and make sandwiches for our clients.

Thanks for helping out the hungry in your community!

Kids that Give

Meet Brayden Davidson, Jonah Longpre and Ashley Matheson.  They are dedicated students from Sacred Heart High School.  This is their first time serving at Shepherds of Good Hope while contributing to their community service hours.  Under the tutelage of Chaplain Mary Defayette, students have been coming to serve at Shepherds of Good Hope once a month for 6 years.

 

 

Thanks kids!

 

If you would like to find out more about our partnership with schools, please click HERE