YORKTON – Students of the Leadership 30 class at Yorkton Regional High School served up a meal to hundreds of people Oct. 6.
"We're providing a thanksgiving feast to our family of Raiders," said Rihanna Derbowka, a spokesperson for the Leadership 30 class, adding "it gives students the opportunity — who may not get to have that experience at home — it provides them with that experience and gives them a sense of belonging within the school."
The class — a mix of grade 10, 11 and 12 — has 33 students each are tasked with responsibilities for making the feast happen.
The feast was intended to feed "over 900 students and staff," according to spokesperson Hayley Davidson, also of the Leadership 30 class.
"That includes volunteers within the community who are helping," said Davidson.
"This year we had to do a bit of fundraising because last year we had money saved up from past years and not being able to do the feast," said Davidson, noting that the pandemic prevented past classes from holding the annual event.
The students were tasked with acquiring sponsors for the event and though they said it was stressful at times, they were happy to be able to contribute and noted the it was helpful for their learning experience.
The students received funding from 20 local sponsors.
"We used that money to purchase things but this year it was getting the community together and asking for donations," said Davidson, "we're really happy we managed to get quite a bit of donations from the community."
"It also feels rewarding knowing that we have the capability to pull off something like this and give people a feeling of family," said Derbowka.
As for the leftovers, the students said they had plans for those as well which included donating to them to BGC Yorkton, Community Pantry, Serendipity and into the school pantry as well.
And before student went home for the long weekend, Davidson said there were plans to set up a table in the main foyer at the end of the day so students could grab a meal and take it home with them.
