Over the years, generations of high school students in Orléans have answered the call time and again to raise money for a variety of projects. None more so than the students at St. Peter High School in Fallingbrook who have raised tens of thousands of dollars and collected thousands of food items for the Orléans-Cumberland Food Bank as part of the school’s annual Canley Cup food drive.

Held every spring in late April and early May, the food drive has been an integral part of the St. Peter High School community for more than 25 years. It’s a time when the entire student body joins forces to collect non-perishable food items and monetary donations for the food bank.

This year, the students managed to collect over 20,000 food items and more than $10,000. It’s the most items and dollars raised since the start of the COVID pandemic.

Orléans Cumberland Community Resource Centre project manager Julie Perkins says the donations will help the OCCRC provide emergency food supplies to residents who need them over the summer and into the fall.

“It’s the second biggest food drive of the year after the Ottawa Firefighters’ annual Christmas food drive,” says Perkins. “It allows us to feed families for at least the next three to four months,” says Perkins. “We’re fortunate to have such a generous community and students who know the value of taking care of each other and helping each other out.”

So far this year, the food bank has provided emergency food assistance to an average of 1,500 individuals a month, the majority of whom are children.

It’s a common misconception that people can drop by the food bank as many times as the want. The reality is that individuals and families are only entitled to three days of emergency food supplies a month. The amount they can receive is based on the size of the family.

Most people use the food bank as a last resort when they have no money left to put food on the table after paying their bills.

According to Perkins, demand has con-tinued to rise month after month.

“Each month is a new record,” says Perkins, who believes the increase in demand is a reflection of the current state of the economy and the rising cost of groceries.

The state of the economy and the rising cost of groceries is also why individual donations are down, which is why the Canley Cup food drive is so vitally important to the food bank, but no one suspected that this year’s effort would be so successful, including St. Peter teachers Shena Hyde who has been co-ordinating the food drive for the past four years.

“I’m totally blown away by the generosity of our community the efforts of our stu-dents,” says Hyde. “I did not expect those final numbers, especially in the climate were in. I’m shocked. I’m floored.”

The Canley Cup food drive has developed into a friendly competition between classes to see which class can collect the most food items and raise the most money.

This year’s winning class was Rachel Reigber’s Grade 10 class, which collected over $5,000 in cash and food.

They were followed closely by four other classes including Stephane Gagne’s Grade 8 class which collected over $3,500 in cash and food, and Leigh Anne Napiorkowski’s special education class which raised over $2,300 mostly through the sale of pre-made cookies.

Last but by no means least, Abe Boyo’s Grade 8 class collected over $2,500 in cash and food and Eric Boisvert’s Grade 9 class collected over $2,000 in cash and food.

Three busloads of food items were delivered to the food bank by schoolbus on May 7. In the days and weeks ahead the food will be sorted and stored by nearly 100 food bank volunteers.

Meanwhile, the students at St. Pete’s were rewarded for their efforts with a carnival and BBQ on May 7.

If you or someone you know is struggling financially and having a difficult time making it through the month, you can call the food bank at 613-830-5152.

The food bank is open by appointment only on Mondays from 1:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesdays from 1:15 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursdays from 9:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Fridays from 9:15 a.m. to 12 p.m. The food bank is closed on Wednesdays.

Monetary donations are always welcome and can be made anytime by visiting the Orléans Cumberland Resource Centre web-site at crcoc.ca and clicking on the donate button at the top of the page .