Bail money raised by incarcerated Lloydminster residents who volunteered to be locked away from their regular 8-4 gig is totalling $11,112 for the LPSD breakfast program.
The all day affair saw community members being picked up in some cases by local RCMP and taken away to Guest Controls and who pitched in for the fundraiser.
Michelle Cowan with Guest Controls who has a background with the Lloydminster Public School Division says the company wanted a more interactive event to assist the breakfast programs in the school division. She stresses the importance of feeding kids to provide the nutrition they need to succeed at school.
“Think about yourself, if you get hungry you can’t concentrate – you can’t learn. Tons of kids don’t have food and it’s not always the kids you might think. There are lots of kids who are coming to school hungry and you can’t concentrate, you can’t have a good day until your belly is full. We want kids to be successful. We want them to become independent, productive members of society and the best thing we can do is just give them that helping hand and fill their bellies up before they head into the classroom to learn.”
The Guest Controls and Border City Shield Mechanical event witnessed school principals, general managers, media personalities and staff from both companies getting locked down for portions of the day as they sought to raise the funds to get out of jail and contribute to the school feeding effort. Cowan expressed the company’s gratitude for the community support.
“It’s been fantastic. Just seeing the community come together like this and they’re having fun with it. I’m really glad we chose something interactive so people could come together and you feel that sense of community and everybody is excited about the end goal of just feeding the kids.”
As the need is ongoing, Cowan adds residents can continue donating to the cause directly by contacting the local school division.