(L-R): Shellie Wilson and Kim Vanderwal with Airdrie Christian Academy delivered 1000 meals to Kelly Row and Hope Mission Red Deer on Friday at the organization's downtown centre. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

no hunger allowed

Hope Mission Red Deer given 1000 meals from Airdrie Christian Academy

Aug 16, 2019 | 4:20 PM

Hope Mission Red Deer is giving 1000 meals to hungry citizens thanks to a donation from Airdrie Christian Academy.

The school undertook its Feed the Need fundraiser this past May and June, raising enough to pack 10,000 meals for the hungry in our city, as well as Edmonton and Calgary. It did so in conjunction with Kids Against Hunger Canada.

Hope Mission accepted the donation Friday afternoon at its downtown Red Deer offices.

Kelly Row, a community engagement worker with Hope Mission, says the meals, which are dehydrated and cover the essential food groups, will help feed 250 students in six local public north end schools, plus their families.

“Some of the meals will be distributed right to the families so they can prep them at home, some will be used in our after school programming, and some will be used for family dinners during the holidays,” explains Row, who also spoke about the original teen shelter they opened in Edmonton.

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Meals like these are distributed across Canada and into countries overseas by Kids Against Hunger Canada. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

“We realized most of the youth were coming from the same low-income neighbourhoods. So we’re trying to prevent kids from falling into drugs and gangs, crime, living on the street and even being down at the centre,” he continues.

Shellie Wilson, Airdrie Christian school ambassador says the initiative hit students hard during the packing process at the end of May.

“They realized this food they were packing was going to feed somebody. One of our grade seven students was really impacted by it; she’d been saving for a car for years and she had gone to get a snack and saw all the food and realized all she had at her disposal, and she thought ‘there are other kids my age who don’t even have a meal,'” Wilson recalls.

“She had $2000 for a car, and she gave all of it to the fundraiser. It’s been really impactful and raised some awareness.”

Red Deer Hope Mission Centre opened its doors in 2015 and has been operating in Alberta since 1929.

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