NorKam Christmas meal connects students with Kamloops community

Dec 20, 2017 | 3:08 PM

KAMLOOPS — Students at NorKam Senior Secondary sat down to a Christmas meal Wednesday, an event that has quickly become a Christmas tradition. 

Volunteers piled students’ plates full of turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing before the school community gathered to enjoy the meal together. 

This is the fifth year the event has taken place at NorKam. 

“We started this dinner to connect our school and our community, and have our community come in and see our kids and see our school,” said principal Jonathan Brady. “It’s also a way that we ensure every kid in our school is going to have a Christmas dinner. It’s also a way to build community within our school.”

The gymnasium was packed with approximately 740 students and volunteers. 

This year all of the food was prepared and served solely by the volunteers, and the students were grateful. 

“To know that all of these people came together to have something so big, you don’t see this a lot anywhere else, especially in schools,” said Grade 11 student Korben Nielsen. “So, it’s really nice to bring everyone together and have a sense of a home or a family.”

“I know that there are some kids in the school who maybe can’t afford to have Christmas dinner, or don’t have the family to have one with,” said Grade 11 student Regan Shultz, “and also for the international students who don’t necessarily know what a traditional Christmas dinner is for here.”