The gym at St. Patrick's Catholic High School in Sarnia was electric on Friday afternoon as students and staff held a pep rally in advance of next weekend's Irish Miracle food drive.
Organizing committee member Jayden Miller was excited about the kick off for the 42nd annual event.
"Everyone here is buzzing with energy, everyone is so excited," Miller told Sarnia News Today. "There's so much music and so many fun activities and St. Pat's is just full of so much energy today."
Miller said she and about 20 other members have spent several weeks planning for the pep rally and food drive.
"We're holding the pep rally to try and inform as many students in the school to volunteer for Irish Miracle," she said. "[They're] going to meet new people, and try and get around the city and get as much food as possible. We're going to be donating the food at the end, but we just want [the students] to experience St. Pat's and be a part of the family here."
The students did mock door-to-door skits, created an obstacle course challenge for students to navigate with their donations and there was a performance by the dance team.
Grade 11 student Talia Bosilo, who is also on the 2025 committee, said it will be her third year participating.
"I'm really excited to go our door-to-door for the can collection," Bosilo said. "I love helping people who are in need. It's really fun and it feels really good to help people."
Volunteers will canvas Sarnia, Bright's Grove and Point Edward on Saturday, December 6, collecting non-perishable food and hygiene products for the St. Vincent de Paul food bank.
"People most of the time are really nice," she said. "They're excited and wanting to help. We're going to be starting at 9 a.m. [Volunteers] will come to St. Pat's first and get their route and when they're done they can come back and help us organize [the donations] or go home."
Volunteers, who return to the school to help sort the donations, will be served a free hot breakfast.
While students try to visit every street before noon, residents who are missed or won't be home are asked to drop off donations at the high school on The Rapids Parkway.
Grade 8 students are welcome to help and they will also receive volunteer hours, which are required to receive an Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
Students from other schools and community members interested in volunteering are asked to contact teacher Vanessa Borody at vanessa.borody@sccdsb.net
In 2024, 4,500 bags of items and just over $1,000 in monetary donations were collected.
