Think good thoughts, say good words and do good deeds. When reflecting on the past two weeks of 6th Meadowvale Venture Company's annual food drive, I am proud to say that I have seen countless examples of these 3 Acts of Goodness from our members and the Fo Guan Shang community throughout this successful event.

When it comes to events that the Venture company holds, lots of planning goes into the occasion. For the food drive, we discussed and set the dates, created the poster, contacted the Mississauga food bank, discussed with those in the temple, did promotions and much more.

The food drive was held over two weeks starting from November 19th to the 27th with Ventures being there on both weekends. Although the first weekend was very cold, Venture members followed the Venture Motto “Challenge” and persevered through the frigid November weather, already filling 2 boxes to the top and figuring out ways to store the excess amounts of food that would not fit in any of the big boxes. Day by day, people would come to give food and on the last day of the food drive, all five boxes were full as well as an additional six smaller boxes, amounting to around 1500 pounds of food in total.These boxes were filled with foods like pasta, rice, canned vegetables and beans, pasta sauce, cereal and much more. Many also gave cash donations which amounted to over $300.

These efforts never go to waste as each year’s turnout always goes above and beyond. Thank you to all of our Venture company members and volunteers Darren Chen, Marcel Kartolo, Kiana Yue and Brandon Ngo as well as our leaders Cathy, Mai, Jackson and Tony who we could not do this event without!

Scouting and Buddhism have taught us that compassion for everyone is crucial. In a world where hundreds of thousands of people rely on food bank search day to live which has worsened due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, food banks like the Mississauga Food Bank need our help more than ever. This is why the 3 Acts of Goodness goes hand-in-hand with the food drive.

All of the good thoughts of those who thought to bring donations, those who put in thought to come up with a food drive this year. Further to the good deeds done by all those who came and dropped off donations as well as the efforts put in by all those who made this event happen. Lastly, all the good words that were shared from the “thank you’s” to words of teamwork and collaboration to all the positive feedback we got back.  We were all reminded of not only the Scout Promise, to do our best to help people in need but also to help all in the Temple community think about the ways that we can positively contribute to our society. In the end, no act of kindness is too small when it comes to the fight against hunger.

By Jada Chau (President of Venture Company)

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