Local donations head north

Attawapiskat students enjoy gardening with donations funded by Peterborough area club

A skid containing 600 pounds of gardening supplies is on its way to elementary school students in Attawapiskat, on James Bay – all thanks to the Fowler’s Corner and District Lions Club.

The local club is supporting the gardening project, which is designed to allow kids at Kattawapiskat Elementary School to grow their own vegetables this summer.

In 2018, the project continues – but high school students will have their turn.

Next year, students at Vezina High School in Attawapiskat will receive gardening supplies - again through this project.

The 600 pounds of gardening supplies include raised garden boxes, hoes, shovels, spades, fertilizer and soil mixtures – all paid for by the local Lions.

But the supplies aren’t making the trip all the way from Peterborough.

Instead, funds collected locally were sent to the Home Depot in Timmins; all the supplies were purchased there.

A courier service in Timmins called Gold Heart is trucking the supplies to Cochrane for free, according to Lakefield’s Carol Franks, who is co-ordinating the shipment.

Next, the skid is being sent by rail from Cochrane to Moosonee (the rail service, Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, also waived its fees).

Although the skid hasn’t arrived yet, the students are already starting their gardens. That’s because a smaller shipment of supplies was sent in advance of the 600-pound skid.

Borden Hasiuk, the principal at Kattawapiskat Elementary School, said a suitcase filled with vegetable seeds, seed potatoes, multiplier onions and hand tools has already arrived.

Although it’s colder in Northern Ontario, Hasiuk expects the gardens to succeed.

“Despite our climate, we can likely grow a lot of great, healthy vegetables right here in Attawapiskat,” he stated in a release.

It’ s not the first time Peter borough residents have sent a donation to Attawapiskat.

In October, 200 boxes of school supplies, warm clothing, running shoes, books, games and sporting equipment were collected locally.

It was all sent from Peterborough to Attawapiskat thanks to McWilliams Moving and Storage and Moosonee Transportation Ltd.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Two enthusiastic youngsters from Kattawapiskat Elementary School in Attawapiskat holding gardening tools and seeds, part of a shipment of supplies from Peterborough in support of the school's vegetable gardening project.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Grade 8 student Dana Solomon at Kattawapiskat Elementary School checks out planting instructions for a cucumber seedling.