Graduating Côte St-Luc high school students rally to help seniors in their community

Graduating students at Bialik High School in Côte St-Luc took a break from studying Friday morning to team up with parents and teachers to give back to the community.

They converged at the IGA supermarket at the Côte St-Luc Shopping Centre at 8:30 to pack and deliver groceries for seniors.  Students say they have been looking forward to it.

“I think everybody really wants to help in this pandemic,” said student Jacqueline Lisbona.

“We want to do something.  We all want to do something.”

It was organized in partnership with Nellie Philanthropy Foundation which, for weeks, has been helping out seniors who are shut in because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“We mobilized our volunteer network and we started collecting, packing and delivering groceries for them,” explained David Lisbona, the organization’s managing director.

One of those volunteers is his daughter Jacqueline, who says she and others brought the idea to her school, where she’s a graduating student.

“We thought it was a cool idea for the graduating class at Bialik to be involved in this really special effort,” she said.

After seniors placed their orders, the foundation coordinated with the supermarket to prepare the groceries.  In all, the group delivered to 45 households, some of it on foot.

“We have the two B’nai Brith homes here as well as St Patrick’s Square and we had the parents deliver to some of our seniors in their homes,” Lisbona said.

Friday’s activity wasn’t just good for the students, though. Parents also thought it was worthwhile.

“I’m looking for ways to get out and do things,” laughed Francine Sternthal, who has a daughter about to graduate from the school.

“I work from home these days, so this is not only a way to get out, it’s a way to give back.”

The students say they want to do it again.

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