Do you like brownies or cupcakes? Well then, I hope you were present for the bake sale which took place in the main hall at lunch on Friday, June 17. This wonderful event was organized by the Youth In Action Club, as well as Ms. Samuels’ NAC20 class.

From cookies, to donuts, there were dozens and dozens of baked goods generously made by students for the NAC20 and Youth in Action’s bake sale. In addition, there were the kindly donated treats from Maverick’s Donuts and Strawberry Blonde Bakery for those students with food allergies or dietary restrictions.

The bake sale was created to raise money for the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Cultural Center Language Revitalization Program and residential ‘school’ survivor initiatives, as well as Water First, an organization working to provide clean water for Indigenous communities across Turtle Island including a local project at Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg.

To learn more about this meaningful event, we’ve asked two of the co-leaders of the Youth in Action Club, Sara and Ellie, a few questions.

“Fundraising for this particular cause came to mind thanks to the members of the Youth in Action club hoping to do something in celebration of Indigenous History month,” explained Ellie. Sara pointed out that there is not a specific club that works to improve Indigenous issues in our school and they, as a club, felt it was important to address them to our community.

For the club leaders of Youth in Action club, the most important thing about these initiatives is that our contribution will impact local areas, such as the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg cultural center, which is an Indigenous community located in Quebec. They really just wanted the donations to stay local and support nearby communities.

The other goal of the bake sale was to raise awareness for the water crisis, “Because a lot of people take for granted in Canada that we have clean water, but it is actually not, in fact, the case,” mentioned Sara. The truth is that 35% of First Nations communities are under a drinking water advisory in Ontario alone, with 73% of First Nations communities around Canada with water systems at a medium to high risk of contamination.

“A lot of people know about the issue [lack of safe drinking water], but feel like they cannot really do anything to help, so it is nice that there are organizations out there that are supporting these people, and helping indigenous communities in Canada to get clean water,” added Ellie.

A big thank you goes to the members of the Youth in Action club as well as Ms. Samuels and the NAC20 class who were able to organize this event and bring this idea into a reality. Thank you to everyone who was able to show up at the bake sale and show their support to helping Indigenous communities and helping to receive better access to clean water for everyone in Canada!