Bi-Line Newsletter

H4H 2009 Advisors: Ashley DiCecca, Liz Gabriel, Sue Gambioli & John Morelli
This year marked the 10th Annual Halloween for Hunger campaign at St. Thomas More. What started out as a small group of 30 students in October, 2000 has snowballed into the largest Halloween for Hunger food drive in the world, according to Craig and Marc Kielburger, the brothers who founded the youth-directed organization Free the Children. What is suggested by the organization to youth who want to make a difference in their communities, has become woven into the fabric of STM’s perennial activities. Every year the student leadership who take on Halloween for Hunger (H4H) yearn for bigger and better results than the previous campaign.		This year was no different. Last year, this event collected 53,333 pounds of non-perishable food and baby items for the Neighbour to Neighbour Centre, successfully surpassing the goal of 50,000 pounds. This year, the Executive Team, led by Senior Directors Emily O’Rourke and Kelly de Koning, and Junior Director Ray Luvisa, decided to increase the goal yet again -- in spite of facing a very tough recession -- this time to 54,321 pounds. The Executive Team, aided by the other 65 or so student members of the Planning Committee, set to work immediately upon their return from the summer break.

However, organizing a massive food drive wasn’t enough for these committed and energetic young men and women. Because this was the 10th H4H campaign at STM, the students decided, for the first time, to have a Kick-off Concert on the night before Halloween, to celebrate our school’s faith-based service to our neighbours in need. Starting with a barbeque (thanks to our school’s Co-Instructional Council who organized and ran it), the concert included words of encouragement and support from MP Chris Charlton, Provincial NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, MPP Sofia Aggelonitis, City Councilor Terry Whitehead, and an emotional thank you from the current President of Neighbour to Neighbour, Marlene Atlas.		Then Sara Brown, an outreach speaker from Free the Children in Toronto, shared the hope-filled vision of youth empowerment. The audience was then treated to the spirited talent of STM, including many musical artists and our very own gifted Elvis impersonator, Anthony Carbone. The concert concluded with brilliant acoustic sets by recording artists City Sirens, Melissa Bel and alumnus Christopher Charles. Also in attendance, and in our opinion the real guests of honour, were the many STM H4H alumni that built the foundation for this amazing tradition at STM! Many thanks go to the Stage Crew for lending their technical and sound expertise for this event.

Halloween night was nothing short of amazing! Another first was the attempt to sort the donations as they came in into four categories. By 8pm, the vast majority of the cafeteria floor was covered by a multitude of boxes and bags filled with donations. By 10pm, the mountain of food was complete, and the question we heard many times over that evening and the next week was, “do you think it’s more than last year??” We are excited to report that it was indeed: that night alone the 700 or so student, parent and staff volunteers collected 53,425 pounds!!! Many donations have trickled in since Halloween, and at the time of submitting this article, the final tally is not yet known. However, we are certain to surpass the goal of 54,321 pounds, as we held back all the macaroni and cheese boxes (approx. 3000 of them) for our “Mac & Cheese Domino” event which runs Nov. 10.		Congratulations and many, many thanks to the student organizers who, combined, put in close to 2000 hours of planning. Thanks also to STM’s administration – Ms. Fortino-Bozzo, Ms. Hubbard, Mr. Begadon, Mr. Hargot and our beloved Chaplain, Ms. O’Keefe - who not only gave their blessings and advice, but their assistance during the concert and the campaign on the night of. Our gratitude also to the dozens of teachers who gave of their time over Halloween weekend, and to the many parents of students who helped transport canvassers and donations on Halloween night. Lastly a big thank you to the 500 or so STM students (a quarter of the school’s population!) who helped on Halloween night – we couldn’t have done it without you!

The stark reality of poverty that our brothers and sisters in our community has faced, particularly over the last year, has been alleviated, albeit for a short period of time. Neighbour to Neighbour has reported a 33% increase in the demand for their food bank services from the same period last year. The reality is that thousands of children and youth on the Hamilton Mountain go to school hungry on a regular basis. Indeed, the 54,000+ pounds of food that was collected on Halloween night won’t even last into December at Neighbour to Neighbour. Let’s hope and pray that, in the near future, food drives such as Halloween for Hunger will no longer be necessary.		In the meantime, STM will be here to lend a hand to our neighbours in need, not just through H4H, but in the many other faith- and service-driven initiatives we have. If you wish to assist Neighbour to Neighbour in any of their campaigns (they also run tutoring and job-find programs, as well as clothing drives and their upcoming Christmas Hamper Program), please contact them at (905)574-1334. Ashley DiCecca, Liz Gabriel, Sue Gambioli & John Morelli H4H 2009 Teacher Advisors

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