A gift of Christmas spirit, from one school to another

Our students gave up classroom time last week to prepare Christmas dinner. It was a little early for the big day, but then, it was not your usual family meal. They cooked enough turkey, dressing, gravy, veggies, potatoes and cranberry sauce to feed a small army. And they happily donated their time to see it through. Friday morning, they packed it all into insulated hot boxes and headed up King Street.

Setting up in the auditorium of King Edward Public School, they laid out a spread to feed 400 children, along with the teachers and parents that joined in on the fun. For some of the children in this economically depressed area of the city, it might be the only Christmas meal they get.

"Their teachers are faced with hungry kids on a daily basis, so the school approached us a couple of weeks ago to make a dinner for them," says Elaina Ravo, Liaison Kitchener's director.  "We had an overwhelming response from our students. We're very proud of the time, the energy, and the work they put into this, and their overwhelming generosity."

The handmade card some of the kids created for the culinary students says it all, in a way only young artists can muster; a simple 'Thank You', and 'Merry Christmas', and dozens of signatures in multicolored pencil.

This gift of food worked both ways though. "With all of the good that our students did," says Elaina, "we're still floating on cloud 9."