Children in a developing country are enjoying nourishing meals because students at Centennial Secondary in Coquitlam walked, rode their bikes or played a spirited game of musical chairs.
More than 380 students participated in the school’s MOVE4MANA initiative that just wrapped up on Monday, Feb. 19.
For two weeks, their physical activities and competitions in various challenges like musical chairs, a version of capture the flag and even a live take on the Hungry Hungry Hippo tabletop game earned points on a special app.
Their efforts were enough to fund nutritious food packets that will feed 27 children in Somalia who are suffering from severe malnutrition.
Hanbin Cho was one of 40 students in comparative culture and social studies classes who organized the effort, that’s been a staple of the school year at Centennial and other high schools around the Tri-Cities for several years. He said it was inspiring to be part of an activity that helps build community within the school’s halls yet extends far around the world.
“We had good energy,” Cho said.
Keira Wong, another student leader, said the event was as much about promoting physical and mental well-being in the school as it was about helping children in faraway lands. She said the reward of being able to send food to developing countries was the icing on the cake, so to speak, of the initiative to get students moving and increase their awareness about the way those physical exertions can also benefit their mental health.
MOVE4MANA is a student-led program of the Food For Famine Society that is based in Langley and has helped more than 160,000 children in developing countries like Afghanistan, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, Swaziland and Uganda since it was founded in 2009.
Students log their physical activities and participation in various fun challenges to earn points that go toward purchasing nutritious food packets that contain chicken, spinach, asparagus, milk, olive oil, butter, carrots, oranges and two meat patties.
Cho said having Centennial students work for the charitable effort made it somehow more rewarding than a standard fundraiser for cash donations.
“It made me realize I can make a difference,” he said, adding the program also fostered a bit of a competitive zeal to see just how much Centennial students could achieve.
