The kitchen at the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) has been doing its part to help feed families in the region.
Thanks to the generosity of the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation, the South East Cornerstone Public School Division has been providing support to those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 250 families in the division received three meals each in June, and another three meals were prepared for 235 families in December.
ECS played a big role in preparing those meals.
“The school division tried to help out where they could. Myself at ECS and Ardell (Pearson) in Weyburn offered to help out by making some of the meals for families that could use that assistance,” said Curtis Hack, the chef instructor and technical education department head at ECS.
Each meal was sufficient to feed a family of five.
The schools were so cost-efficient with their expenses that they still had money left over from the spring, and they decided to prepare more meals in December.
“The menus seemed to be positive last spring, so we did the same thing this fall. People were very grateful. We had lots of compliments from people and we got lots of thank yous from school division people,” said Hack.
He believes these meals were more effective than gift cards, because they brought more value.
“Between the two high schools, we take the money and we can drive it a little bit further because we’re buying the foods from Cisco. We get more for our dollar that way.”
The school division staff heard lots of positive feedback from those who delivered and received the meals. The program extended beyond the two cities in the division to the residents of rural areas.
“We’re always happy to do something like this. Last spring, of course, with classes being cancelled, we still had some staff in the building … doing work. They were overhauling the kitchen, doing a really deep cleaning. It was really nice to have something to do because it took about four or five days to put it all together.”
Hack and employees prepared the meals in the spring in Estevan.
Students provided assistance in the fall. They needed a few days again, with two or three days for preparation work and a couple more days bringing it all together.
“We just wanted to ensure that they had a good solid meal, and that they were frozen fresh and arrived in a safe condition when they arrived in the communities.”
Hack said the students have enjoyed the experience, and they have adhered to the guidelines set out by the provincial government.
Even though they had more workers this time, it actually took longer to prepare the meals, because the students were working on them every second day.
“The feedback in my classes was really great, too. It gave something for the kids to do that was a little bit different, and helping people is always good,” Hack said.
The meals prepared at ECS were shipped out on Dec. 7 to communities in the eastern area of the school division.
