McCreary School social justice club visits Samaritan House

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Published on Friday, June 3, 2016

Submitted photos. During their trip to Samaritan House, the Operation Difference Makers group sorted through food items at the warehouse facility.

Submitted

Operation Difference Makers

McCreary School’s social justice club, “Operation DifferenceMakers,” would like to thank the Samaritan House in Brandon for facilitating some time for students to help spread mulch and weed their community garden. During the time in Brandon, the club also took the opportunity to sort nonperishable food items at the Samaritan House facility. 

A group of 34 Grades 7 to 11 students and educatorswere able to visit the Samaritan House in Brandon on May 17. Prior to the event, the group collected nonperishable goods to donate to the charitable organization. Nearly 150 pounds of goods were gathered, surpassing last year’s contribution by over 40 pounds.  

The social justice club is composed of 32 students from Grades 7 to 11 and has been working inside and outside the community to make a difference locally and globally. Throughout the school year, the group meets to discussways to promote a safe and fun school climate, fundraises for national and international causes and volunteers their time for others. The group has learned the importance of helping others as they have worked with the Samaritan House since 2012. 

Operation Difference Maker group member Tyler Crivea commented on the experience, “This is the first time I have had the chance to take part in the annual Brandon Samaritan House trip and the group has told me how much the garden has changed.” Referring to the evolving project in Brandon, “It’s neat to be a part of a good cause and it’s a great thing that the Samaritan House organizers are doing.”

Crivea, who focuses much of his time on his Media Studies coursework, was able to interview the garden coordinator for his weekly McCreary Maverick podcast. On the podcast, coordinator Blake Hamilton shared his thoughts about groups like McCreary School helping with the garden, “This is a good cause and school groups like McCreary help the success of growing a healthy community garden for people in the city.” 

One of the group leaders, MyKayla Kohlman, shared her thoughts, “The volunteer coordinator, Trina, was a wonderful organizer for our Samaritan House experience. She was always very friendly and answered many of our questions. We learned how important food banks are across the country and how much they contribute to the country’s hungry people. I really enjoyed my time working with the Samaritan House and would like to thank everyone involved in making this a meaningful learning experience.”

We learned a lot from all members of the Samaritan House Ministries and would like to thank past volunteer coordinator Marcia Wiebe for helping organize our outing, helping us in previous years and introducing us to the new volunteer coordinator, Trina. We would like to thank all of the coordinators and the organization for all of the work they do for others and helping us understand the importance of food banks across Canada.

The social justice group went to help with the Samaritan House community garden, including spreading mulch.