Akshara Nagaruru is behind the Baby Bundle Drive being done in partnership with Interfaith Food Bank, building off the existing Baby Bundle Program at the facility, February 20 2024. (Photo: LNN)

By Justin Goulet

Lethbridge student teams with Interfaith Food Bank to help local families

Feb 20, 2024 | 1:15 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – An Interfaith Food Bank initiative is getting a boost from a local high school student.

Winston Churchill High School senior Akshara Nagaruru is behind the Baby Bundle Drive being done in partnership with the food bank, building off an existing program at the facility.

Nagaruru and a few of her friends are hard at work putting together bundles of items like diapers, sanitary wipes, teethers and more that will be distributed through the existing Baby Bundle Program.

She remarked, “Here at the Interfaith Food Bank, they already do have this baby program, where each month they’re able to give out around 50 hampers, which include [items] like baby food, formula, more generic things that are definitely of great use to these families.”

Nagaruru added, “I did notice there were some supplies that weren’t provided, some things [that are] a little bit more connecting, so again, we have some bibs back there, some soothers, some milk bottles, some things that would also be of great use but not exactly those specific items [already offered].”

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Nagaruru and friends packaging supplies for the Baby Bundle Program, February 20, 2024. (Photo: LNN)

She explained that she was able to start the initiative after receiving a $1,500 Youth in Action Grant from the Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta.

Nagaruru said, “I’m hoping to help young mothers as well as pregnant women who are struggling financially and are not able to support themselves.”

FUNDRAISING DRIVE

Nagaruru said she wanted to purchase as many items as she could with her grant to go along with the bundles being handed out by Interfaith, but noted, “There’s only so much I can do with that money – I can only buy for about a month.”

That is why in addition to packing up supplies, she is leading a fundraising drive to gather more supplies.

A donation bin at Interfaith Food Bank for the Baby Bundle Drive, February 20 2024. (Photo: LNN)

She said, “I’m also fundraising by holding a drive so that there’s people in Lethbridge who can give back to the community, who can help these families as well and try to help us fundraise [for the purchase of] these different items, because of course, we’re not able to buy everything.”

Poster for the Baby Bundle Drive. (Photo supplied by Interfaith Food Bank)

Donations can be made online at the Interfaith Food Bank website, by emailing artshealhearts@outlook.com or in-person at the 3 Avenue North food bank in Lethbridge.

INSPIRED THROUGH VOLUNTEERING

Nagaruru said she was inspired to get involved through her wealth of experience volunteering in the community. She has volunteered at Chinook Regional Hospital, seniors’ homes in the city, the Lethbridge Food Bank and now, Interfaith.

She commented that during her experiences, she has had the opportunity to meet a wide range of people, individuals that she normally does not interact with.

Nagaruru commented, “In my time at the medical detox unit at the hospital, I got to see a lot of struggles that I didn’t notice before, specifically how there were a lot of mothers who couldn’t really support themselves and were quite struggling to buy baby supplies.”

Items being packaged by Nagaruru and friends as part of the Baby Bundle Program, seen at the Interfaith Food Bank, February 20, 2024. (Photo: LNN)

She added, “Of course there are benefits, there is money that is provided by the government but not enough to help support these families. From that, I wanted to do something about it.”

“Since I already was a food bank volunteer, I thought this would be the perfect place to collaborate to make my project come through.”

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Danielle McIntyre, executive director of Interfaith said the existing Baby Bundle Program provides packages that include five to seven days of baby food and supplies for infants up to one year of age.

McIntyre said, “We know that when it’s hard enough to provide the basics, it’s not likely that parents can afford all of the extras they’d like to have for their babies, which is why community support for the Baby Bundle Program is so vital.”

She added, “To see a young person like Akshara take the time to put on a Baby Bundle Drive is inspiring.”

The items being packaged by Nagaruru and her friends will be included in the baby bundles being distributed in March.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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