The generosity of the St. Clair Catholic District School Board will soon be felt far and wide.
The Board has donated six truckloads of furniture and books, recently declared surplus, to schools in Africa and Haiti through Canadian Food for Children Chatham-Kent.
Board officials said the items were declared surplus, following the closing of St. Vincent, St. Agnes, Our Lady of Fatima, and St. Joseph Catholic schools in Chatham.
“We are pleased to partner with Canadian Food for Children Chatham-Kent (CFFC-CK) in repurposing these surplus items for schools in Africa and Haiti, where they are desperately needed,” said Director of Education Deb Crawford. “We are helping to fulfill our Catholic mission to support social justice and humanitarian projects around the world.”
The surplus items include student chairs and desks, teachers’ desks and books.
CFFC-CK was formed in 2007 and has been collecting and sending food, clothing, medical and school supplies, and other needed items to the main warehouse in Mississauga. The supplies are then loaded into shipping containers and trucked to Halifax for shipment to Africa and the Port of Miami for shipment to Haiti and South America.
The volunteers of CFFC-CK have supported missions in Tanzania, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, Haiti and Zambia, among others.
Canadian Food for Children was founded in Canada in 1981 following a request from Mother Teresa.