Students at Bishop James Mahoneny High School spent their Tuesday morning boxing up thousands of non-perishable food items. 

Over 200 students from BJM, and countless others from St. Jospeh High School, collected the donations on Halloween night as part of a decades-old initiative, Halloweening for Hunger.

The boxes of pasta, sauce, beans, rice, crackers, and other non-perishables are now on their way to the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre, and eventually the pantries of thousands of Saskatoon residents. 

Shelby Anderson with the Food Bank explains that the Halloweening for Hunger initiative means a lot to them. “Right now, we’re seeing around 24,000 people come to the food bank each month, and that means that we need more help than ever to keep up with that demand, and it’s great seeing youth step up and take that action.”

The initiative is in its 20th year, and over the course of two decades has produced more than 220,000 pounds of food donations. 

Rachelle Kelln is the teacher in charge of the initiative at BJM. She says she loves seeing students get involved with their community. 

“A few parents emailed, and one gave me a big hug, saying ‘thank you for giving our kids something positive to do on Halloween’. So many of them don’t necessarily want to go party or hang out, so they can get dressed up, go do this, and have fun.”

Alex Hill is a Grade 12 student at BJM.  He adds that, “Knowing that I’m really doing something to help the community and be involved in giving my time to the community; it’s really a good experience.”

This year’s total weight will be determined later on Tuesday.