École Percy Pegler School recently made a hefty donation to the Okotoks Food Bank.

A nearly month-long food drive brought in close to a ton's worth of food donations just in time for Christmas.

It started with Tracey MacNeil's Grade 3 class after MacNeil saw a post on social media about reverse Advent calendars.

The idea is exactly as it sounds: rather than getting something for each day of the month, you give something instead.

It stuck out to her because the excitement of opening up a square every morning in December is something most kids are well acquainted with.

"That hooked my kids right away because I started talking about opening the little flaps and getting chocolate, so they all know what that was!"

She shared the idea with a few of her colleagues, and soon, around two-thirds of the school was on board.

In the end, they donated over 1800 pounds of food.

MacNeil says it's a great way for kids to see the difference they can make.

"My class kept a lot of the food in our room because of the age of the kids I teach, I think it's important for them to see volume. I think that helps create that impact for them."

Given the success of the campaign, another one might be in the cards next Christmas.

"I did have a few colleagues suggest that this was maybe our new Christmas tradition at school. I think I'd be up for that again."

 

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