The Sandwich Foundation and Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy (OLS) in Canmore took part in making and donating 5,000-plus sandwiches for the Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre Society (CDIRCS), Thursday (May 18).
The Sandwich Foundation’s goal is to donate 4,000 bagged lunches per week and one million sandwiches to homeless Calgarians within three years. CDIRCS currently shares approximately 1,000 sandwiches with homeless Calgarians each day.
It could not do so without the generous support of people and organizations like the Sandwich Foundation. Founded in 2015, The Sandwich Foundation’s mission is to deliver nutritious lunches to working homeless Calgarians, especially since the provincial economic downturn.
“In these tough economic times, children from kindergarten to Grade 9 will be hosting a sandwich making day to help Calgary’s homeless,” said Amanda Paes, founder and executive director of The Sandwich Foundation. “When everyone is mostly thinking about kids, these children are helping adults who cannot help themselves. Showing mercy and compassion is all some of these kids can do to give back. Sandwiches fill bellies and spirits, making it easier for homeless Calgarians to work and attend medical appointments.”
Lindsay Fagan, OLS vice-principal, reached out to the foundation, making OLS the first school outside the greater Calgary area to take part in the project.
“I do a lot of work with volunteering with our high school students on service projects like the Mustard Seed drop-in centre, and it came up from a colleague of mine that there was The Sandwich Foundation that I’d never heard of before,” said Fagan.
“Founded in 2015, it’s fairly new and I happened to reach out to them as something I felt was valuable. Because we live here in Canmore I find they (children) don’t have an awareness of what’s going on outside of our Canmore community. I wanted to bring that awareness and let them know that they can contribute in a very small way that can impact a number of people by making 5,000 nutritious lunches today.”
Both Fagan and Paes agreed the program has a lasting impact on students and shows they’re never too young to get involved in lending a hand to someone less fortunate. Students as young as kindergarten participated, all the way through to Grade 9.
“Looking to the future, we would probably make it a full school event,” said Fagan. “It was also a great opportunity for older kids to work alongside the younger kids.”
OLS was the sixth school The Sandwich Foundation has partnered with to reach its weekly food goals for those in need.
“It will be loaded onto the truck and delivered right to the drop-in centre and will probably be used within the next two days; they need about 10,000 sandwiches every week to fulfill their need,” said Paes.
For more information on The Sandwich Foundation, visit www.thesandwichdfoundation.com, or email The Sandwich Foundation’s Amanda Paes at [email protected].
People interested in volunteering or donating supplies to make sandwiches or cash are encouraged to email [email protected]. For more than 50 years, the Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre Society has delivered services and supports to people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.
Open 365 days a year, twenty-four hours a day, The DI sleeps over 1,000 people per night and serves approximately 3,000 meals a day. It offers emergency services to over 20,000 Calgarians each year.
