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Heroes’ Memorial Elementary School gives back to local community

The front of a two story elementary school. It is a brick building with large windows that have white trim. There is snow in front of the school.
The ETSB is calling on families to apply for their eligibility certificate to secure their access to English education in Quebec following the implementation of Bill 96. Pictured is Heroes' Memorial Elementary School, one of the English primary schools that students have access to in the Eastern Townships. Photo by Kelsey Renault.
Taylor McClure - CIDI - Knowlton • QC | 20-12-2022
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After a two year hiatus, the Heroes’ Memorial Elementary School food drive picked back up again for the 2022 holiday season. 

Organized by Merida Wisdom with the help of students from her grade 4 class, the  food drive, which ended on Dec. 16, collected five bags and 17 boxes of food for the Centre D’action Bénévole de Cowansville’s (CAB Cowansville) food bank. 

“I’m not sure quite when it got started, but I know that 18 years ago Lisa Bates, our grade five teacher, took it over from Alex Elder when he retired, whom had been doing it for numerous years. In fact, they used to give it to the Anglican Church, which is right next door to Heroes’. I took it over from Lisa about five years ago,” recounted Wisdom. 

Prior to putting a halt on the food drive at the peak of the pandemic, Wisdom decided to give whatever goods were collected at the food drive to CAB Cowansville. 

The organization has a large food bank that distributes food baskets to residents in Cowansville, East-Farnham, Dunham, Frelighsburg and Brigham.

“I felt that was reaching a larger group of people when we began give it to them. (…) One of my students Allan said ‘this is basically a gold mine Miss. Wisdom.’ I had to laugh because there is a lot of goodies in there and the kids have been working really hard to collect all of the stuff,” noted Wisdom.

Coming from Montreal, Wisdom said that she was involved in putting together Christmas baskets for families in the city, which encouraged her to take on the food drive at Heroes’.

“I was on that committee when I was in high-school, voluntarily, and I really loved it. (…) It was something important to me and I thought I’d love to take that on,” she said. 

Wisdom noted that “her students do a lot of the work” when it comes to coordinating the food drive. 

“They make posters to advertise it around the school and we put them up the week before the food drive began. Then they go around every morning, each homeroom has a box, the kids put there food in there and my students go around and pick up the boxes. (…) We go through the goods, they learn about expiry dates, and what best before means,” she mentioned. 

Recognizing the need in the area, especially with a rise in food prices, Wisdom emphasized that she will continue with the food drive every year.

“I think it’s really good for the kids to give back to the community. We have a lot of partners involved in our school and a lot of people give to us. (…) Our students receive so much from the community so I think it’s really nice for them to give back and to learn that other people have needs,” she explained. 

For those that may have missed the opportunity to donate to the food drive, Wisdom encourages the community to look into giving back if they can. 

“I know that the CAB is probably taking donations right up until Christmas and beyond the New Year. It doesn’t just stop at Christmas time, it’s all year round. So, if people wanted to keep giving throughout the year, and they’re in the position to, I think that would be great as well,” said Wisdom. 

Listen to the full interview below:

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