by Karina Hunter

 contagious and the teens worked diligently to attend to errands given them by Baye and the other food bank volunteers who clearly enjoy their work; in under two hours, the tasks, which seemed insurmountable at the beginning of the day, had been completed with plenty of smiles andlaughter added in to every box. 

Such a great group of kids, they were full of smiles, easily making the best of the task at hand.

Keisha Drapeau passes off a bag of carrotts to the next friend in the chain.

Friday morning, the Neighbour to Neighbour Food Bank in Manitouwadge was filling their Annual Christmas Hampers for individuals and families in Manitouwadge and recruited once again the assistance of Manitouwadge High School (MHS) students.  Every year, Food Bank Volunteer Organizer Carole Baye, contacts MHS Teacher Mrs. GG Jones who recruits the help of her Grade 10 Career Studies/Civics Class to help build the hampers and children’s gift bags which are distributed to families in need throughout the community.  The supplies, which the food bank purchased and picked up in bulk quantities, were collected by the teens who were able to run to the stores from the Township of Manitouwadge Council Chambers where this year’s assembly took place, and helped to apportion the supplies in boxes which were laid out across rows of tables spanning the entire room.  Jones’ enthusiasm and obvious appreciation for the opportunity to help was

It wasn't much of a challenge to catch the kids smilling, the close quarters however made getting those smiles framed a little trickier.

In addition to non-perishable goods the boxes included fresh fruits and  vegetables, dairy products, bread, turkeys and many more items which would ensure that families in Manitouwadge would be enjoying a very Merry Christmas topped off by full stomachs, this holiday season.

Submitted to The Echo and the Chronicle Journal 12.19.09 

You'd be hard pressed to find a Kirkpatrick helping at a Manitouwadge event without a smile on their face and kind words to share, on this day there were two (just 1 in this pic lol)