As part of a rotation of daily food drives with the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB), two Newmarket schools are collecting food tomorrow for the Newmarket Food Pantry.
On Tuesday, June 1, Notre Dame Catholic Elementary School at 715 Kingsmere Ave. and St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Elementary School at 960 Leslie Valley Dr. will be accepting donations from 8:30 a.m to 6 p.m. as part of the boardwide initiative to support local food banks.
Angela Lomuto-Corriero initiated the Nurturing Hope drive last year when she became aware of the increasing need for donations during the pandemic.
“It came as a response to the pandemic and the increase of need of families in our own community and beyond that need support for the food bank,” she said.
Lomuto-Corriero, who is a principal at St. Padre Pio Catholic Elementary School in Woodbridge, said she got in touch with the Vaughan Food Bank last year and after hearing about the increased need and decided to take action.
“That dire need within our own community exists, so there’s people in my community, there’s people in every school community... At the Catholic school board, that’s part of our mandate,” she said. “How do we help others? How do we also model for our children the importance of having that global perspective, of looking beyond our own needs?”
Now, for the second year in a row, along with a committee of her colleagues across the YCDSB, she has organized a COVID-19 friendly way to give back to their community.
#ycdsbFoodDrive begins May 25 - Are you ready?
— York Catholic District School Board (@YCDSB) May 21, 2021
59 elementary school drop-off locations supporting
8 York Region food banks
Bring your non-perishable food/personal hygiene items to your closest participating school. Learn more: https://t.co/iT7eaWpVtq #NurturingHope 🥫🥫🥫 pic.twitter.com/Bu6UQh9pNJ
For two weeks, 59 schools across York Region are hosting a one-day food drive in support of eight local food banks.
The collection bins are dropped off by the food banks a day or two before, physically distanced outside of the school, and they are then collected by the food bank volunteers later in the evening, according to Lomuto-Corriero.
“Put it in, keep your distance, keep your mask on, and help somebody in need, that’s it,” she said of the process.
For her, she said it's especially important to give back during the pandemic.
“With all the negative that we’re surrounded with, we can create the positive in simple little ways. By donating an item of food or two, we are letting other people know that they’re important, that we care about them,” she said. “And the best way to put out positivity is those little acts of kindness.”
The food drive has also acted as a tool to keep the community connected during online learning.
“A parent said to me, ‘It’s so nice to have a reason to say to my children let’s go walk to school. It was a little bit of a normal moment,’” Lomuto-Corriero said.
She added that by everyone doing this one thing on this one day, it makes you feel connected and less alone.
This year’s food drive continues until June 8.
Collections in support of the Newmarket Food Pantry have already been taken at St. Paul, St. Nicholas, Canadian Martyrs, and Our Lady of Good Counsel schools.
As always the @CMS_ycdsb community's generosity is always abundant. Like this bin our hearts are overflowing with the feeling of hope for @NmktFood @YCDSB .... you still have over an hour to come and drop by. #ThankYou pic.twitter.com/cKHoZRt5SW
— Canadian Martyrs CES (@CMS_ycdsb) May 27, 2021
While Lomuto-Corriero doesn’t have specific numbers, she said the turnout has been excellent so far this year.
For people wishing to get involved, the principal encouraged them to check the food drive calendar on the board’s website and said even if they missed the collection day at their local school, they can still donate somewhere else to help make a difference.