It isn’t often that a large number of cereal boxes causes much excitement but that’s what happened at the Sault’s Anna McCrea Public School on Feb. 28.
Students from each of the school’s classes brought boxes of cereal to the school throughout the month of February to help feed the hungry in our community.
A total of 411 boxes had been collected by the end of the month, to be divided up and sent to St. Vincent Place, the Sault Ste. Marie Soup Kitchen, Salvation Army Food Bank, and Pauline's Place.
The student body lined up the boxes to wind through the school’s hallways Feb. 28, knocking the first one down, which caused the rest to topple over in a domino effect that stopped at the 411th box perched at the end of the line.
In the spirit of friendly competition, a prize will go to the Anna McCrea class that collected the most cereal boxes.
“They're going to get a pancake breakfast with sausages and fruit and juice provided to them, probably after the March Break,” said Jamie-Lynn O'Neill, Anna McCrea Public School kindergarten teacher
O'Neill’s kindergarten class brought in 76 boxes, more than any other Anna McCrea class.
“I brought in a couple of boxes. It feels good to help other people,” said Milo Berry, Anna McCrea kindergarten student.
“I brought a box in. It feels good to help,” said kindergarten classmate Milo Bressan.
The cereal box drive was O’Neill’s idea.
“I organized it but the kids are the ones that brought the boxes in and it’s the parents that bought the cereal boxes.
"We’re grateful to them. Anna McCrea staff and students always pull through for the community and for each other. This is just another testament of our fantastic Anna McCrea Falcons,” O’Neill said.
The boxes of cereal will be transported to the food banks the week before March Break.
“We're answering a call that we saw online from St. Vincent Place that said they were running low on cereal boxes. I've seen TikTok videos where people have collected cereal boxes, lined them all up, made a chain of them in the school and just made it a real whole school affair,” O’Neill said.
She said it was good to see schoolchildren getting excited about helping others in the community who are not as fortunate and who experience hunger.
“It's uplifting,” O’Neill said.
“Many of our children at this school are very privileged and don't really know what it's like to go without food. But considering the fact that there are people in our own community that we can help and reach out to, it's heart warming to see them help.
"It ties in with Pink Shirt Day (Feb. 26) and anti-bullying, caring and being kind. There’s Valentine's Day in February as well. It brightens up February. This event just brings some spirit to the school and it’s good seeing everybody come together to help other people," O'Neill said.