West Shore Girl Guides and Scouts are going for a walk.
More than 100 children will participate in the 23rd instalment of the annual Hike for Hunger on Sunday, Feb. 22, which will see the Guides and Scouts will carry hundreds of pounds of non-perishable food items from West Shore Town Centre to the Goldstream Food Bank. Despite being involved for more than two decades, guide leader Trudine Wilson said the event is close to her heart.
“I love it; I love being able to help and get out in the community and be with the boys and girls,” she said. “It’s a great opportunity to help people in need and there are a lot in need. It shows the younger generation to help other people too. This is (such) a great community.”
The hike starts outside The Brick at West Shore Town Centre at 11 a.m., heads east along Attree Road, turns north at Veteran’s Memorial Parkway, then goes west on Station Avenue, stopping at the food bank at 761 Station Ave., below the Royal Canadian Legion.
The 30- to 40-minute walk culminates with hot dogs, hot chocolate and entertainment at the Legion. Five-year guide Shauna Stubbs said she knows poverty is in her community and she wants to do her part to help.
“I know there are people out there who need help, not just in third-world countries, but people all around us,” the 14 year old said. “We could be sitting next to a person on a bus or at school and we don’t know about that person’s background. They could be just on the verge of surviving – I would want my community to help me.”
The Spencer middle school student is proud to wear the Girl Guide colours and march in uniform in support of those less fortunate.
“We are showing that girls do make a difference in the world and we care,” Stubbs said. “If we could do more, we would. This is just one way that we are showing it.”
Seven-year-old Payton Drysdale loves being a Brownie and said she, too, looks forward to making a difference.
“(I want) to help people that don’t have enough money to buy food,” the Grade 2 student said. “Because that’s what Brownies do.”
alim@goldstreamgazette.com