Murdoch YiPpers 2016.
This March, students and teachers from the Youth in Philanthropy group at Murdoch MacKay Collegiate arrived at the Oak Table Community Ministry drop-in centre to prepare and serve a soup and sandwich lunch for nearly one hundred hungry guests.
On a typical day, the Oak Table provides a refuge, a meal, and a place to connect for some of the more marginalized members of Winnipeg’s downtown community.
The students and staff of Murdoch felt privileged to have been given the opportunity to serve and interact with the patrons and volunteer staff at the centre.
Supported by a “Youth United” program grant provided by United Way of Winnipeg, the group was able to plan a menu, buy groceries, and prep a large amount of food in the days leading up to the event. Murdoch’s Foods and Nutrition program graciously allowed use of their foods lab where upwards of 15 students worked together after school to get things ready for the following day’s meal.
After a similar effort supported by a YiP in Action grant last year, Cindy Tinsley, Education Outreach Coordinator for the Oak Table, responded to the group’s visit in a thank you letter addressed to the school:
“I cannot express in more glowing terms the pleasure it was for Oak Table to host a wonderful group of Murdoch MacKay ambassadors last Thursday. Our staff and volunteer crew all commented that having the students at Oak Table re-ignited their faith in the coming generation.
The group arrived on time, ready to work with big smiles. No job or request was refused. They all even wore hairnets! What great sports. The meal they prepared was nutritious, delicious, and included the treat of fresh vegetables on the sandwiches.
The students and staff from Murdoch MacKay interacted with staff and guests with respect, lovely manners, and a genuine desire to help. They prepared and served lunch, helped us slice a whole loaf donation of bread for our freezer, greeted guests at the dessert table, cleaned up, and left us with enough leftovers to prepare part of the following week’s meals.”
February 2015. Shared with permission of River East Transcona School Division.
For more information about the Oak Table, visit their website at http://www.oaktable.ca/.
