A local service club is making a lot of soup tomorrow. Actually, they're making 100,000 packages of soup but no water will be added yet.
"We're hoping it will be a big event," said Andre Charrois of the Rotary Club of St. Albert, referring to the Stop Hunger Now event taking place at the Enjoy Centre starting at 9 a.m.
The group has joined forces with Stop Hunger Now, an international relief organization. They have co-ordinated or helped empower community groups to run their own meal-packaging events for years now. It's the heart of their work, according to its website at www.stophungernow.org.
Long in the planning, the major meal prep finally makes its mark on this city. The Rotarians are looking for 300 volunteers in teams of 10 or 12 to come down for a few hours and measure rice, soy flour, dried vegetables, and nutrient powder into meal bags, weigh and seal them, then box and stack them on pallets, before loading them onto a truck.
"It's kinda like an insta-meal cup of soup thing. It's fairly enjoyable and edible for the people eating it. Our goal is to create 100,000 bags of food that will be shipped off, in this case, to Haiti to help with the earthquake relief." Another organization called Salesians Mission will distribute them once the shipment arrives on the island nation.
Haiti was devastated with a massive earthquake in 2010 and the country is still trying to recover from it.
It's taken more than a year to organize this blitz event locally. Charrois figures that they have lots of manpower already but a few more hands wouldn't hurt. He thinks that they can accomplish the goal in just two or three hours.
They also hope to fundraise close to $30,000 to pay for the ingredients and the other supplies such as hairnets.
People are asked to visit www.stalbertrotaryclub.com and click on the link to the Stop Hunger Now event to find a way they can help out.
Movember ends at SACHS
Two teachers went into a face-off moustache competition but only one came out a champion. Troy Bontus took the trophy and bragging rights over Evan Holstein but the real winner was public education and helping men with some serious health issues such as cancer and depression.
Together, they brought in $5,028 over the one-month friendly contest, with Team Bontus stretching its chest out to the tape, besting Team Holstein with $2,687 in donations with a last-minute leading tally.
"It was down to the wire," the winner declared. "My team went to the well one more time and was able to get a little bit more. I honestly believe Holstein's team was up $100 or so going into the last week."
As part of accepting the agony of his defeat, Team Holstein had to do perform Rihanna karaoke and practice dance moves such as 'The Carleton' and 'The Stanky Leg' to a riveted lunchtime crowd at the school's Hawks' Nest on Wednesday.
"I live for that," Holstein noted, drily.
The money will go to support The Movember Foundation in its work fighting men's diseases like cancers of the prostate and testicles. It also promotes good mental health for men, promoting suicide prevention too. More details can be found at ca.movember.com.
And those teachers' moustaches … Holstein said that he'd probably reset back to a clean-shaven state while Bontus said that his handlebar would likely fill out back into his regular beard soon enough.
