École St. Françis Elementary School in Tilbury is helping a community in Northern Ontario.
Staff and students have decided to do a project for Lent called "Project From The Heart" and are looking to donate dry goods, toiletries, clothing, school supplies, etc.
The First Nations community is called Neskantaga and has a population of just under 400 residents.
Parent Victoria McDonald says it's a great lesson for students that they'll remember for a longtime.
"They're a fly-in community. The only way you're receiving anything is by plane," she says. "It takes a lot of time and money to bring it out there...they have what we have but it's at a cost and it's a high cost."
Donations have come from as far as Toronto and Peterborough.
The deadline for donations is March 10.
After the March break, all donations will be loaded onto a tractor-trailer and driven to Thunder Bay where they'll board a plane and sent to Neskantaga.
Principal Johanne Sylvain hopes her students keep in touch with their new friends.
"We're sending a big six foot banner with lots of pictures on it for them to keep," says Sylvain. "We hope we'll get some pictures from them and we are starting to learn some of their language too."
McDonald says it's been a great experience for everybody involved.
"I've heard from a few parents that the children see friends bring donations and they're excited...and the teachers have done a great job showing the children where the items are going and who they are for," says McDonald.
