The chorus of “eeeews” and giggles in the Cedar Grove Elementary gym Dec. 12 was all for a good cause.
The students raised more than $2,000 over two weeks for the St. Bartholomew’s Food Bank in Gibsons, surpassing the goal of $1,500.
Their reward? Principal Jamie Sadler puckered up and kissed a fish at a full-school assembly. He called the kiss a bit “slimy,” though Fisherman’s Market manager Emmas Tsao said they’d cleaned up the fish for the event.
The Fisherman’s Market donated the pink salmon – caught at Celestial Reef near Haida Gwaii by fish market owner Geoff Austin – for the event. Tsao and two other market employees, Declan Wilcock and Ryan McDonagh, attended the assembly, even though it was their day off.
“Every dollar you raised goes to people in our community,” Pamela McElheran of St. Bart’s told the kids at the assembly, thanking them for their generosity. “The money you have raised is one of the biggest cheques that we hope to see this year.”
McElheran noted later that food bank use has doubled of late.
The school’s Division 5 (Grade 4) class raised the most money, raising nearly $500.
Sadler later cooked up the fish for the school’s staff.
