The donations collected by R.I. Baker Middle School. (Supplied by Jason Prebushewski)

By David Opinko

$12,000 in donations for Coaldale Food Bank

Coaldale Food Bank receives largest-ever single donation from R.I. Baker Middle School

Dec 19, 2019 | 11:04 AM

COALDALE, AB – Students, staff, and the general public came together to support the local food bank to a degree they had never seen before.

R.I. Baker Middle School Principal Jason Prebushewski explains they have always done food bank drives, but one of their teachers had the idea to turn it into a competition.

There are four homeroom classes in each of grades five, six, seven, and eight. The homeroom that raised the most in food donations would get a pizza party.

“[That] is always good for middle school students because, when you have a pizza party at the end for the class that raises the most, it really puts some pep in their steps and, I guess, widens their hearts.”

Prebushewski says the students themselves were highly motivated to collect as many donations as they could, but there were even parents who did not have children that attended the school donating.

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Businesses such as the Coaldale Food Mart made significant contributions as well.

In the end, it was the 7-B homeroom in Grade 7 that won.

While the class was certainly excited to know that they would get the pizza party, the principal explains that this was not their only piece of motivation.

“It was also surrounded by some important conversation around, there are kids in our school that aren’t going to get to enjoy a nice meal over the holidays, and it’s important that, the more food we bring in, the better chances that more people in our community will be able to enjoy that.”

When it came time to make the donation, the Coaldale Food Bank counted 6,658 total items.

Officials at the food bank estimated that this equated to approximately $12,000 worth of food and other products.

“They told us that that was the biggest single-drive donation that they had ever received in their existence.”

The idea for the competition was spurred, in part, by the Snowball Effect. The Snowball Effect is an initiative started by entrepreneurs from Lethbridge who sought to turn fundraising into a viral social media campaign.