Students at St. Matthew High School in Orléans have collected more than 5,000 cans of food and raised over $6,000 for a local food bank, according to the Ottawa Catholic School Board.
The results come from the school's 2026 "Tiger Prowl," an annual fundraiser that this year benefited the Community Compassion Centre, an Orléans organization that collects, sorts and distributes food to neighbours in need.
A school-wide effort
The fundraiser brought students, staff, families and community members to the school for a day the board described as filled with energy and school spirit. Behind the event, the board said, was a lesson about how small individual contributions can add up when a community works together.
The board noted that the campaign's success was built one can and one donation at a time, with students learning that meaningful change usually comes from many people deciding their contribution matters rather than a single extraordinary gesture.
The Ottawa Catholic School Board said the initiative gave students a chance to put their faith into action, connecting a broad social issue to the people who live around them.
Supporting neighbours in Orléans
The Community Compassion Centre serves newcomers to Canada, single parents, children, seniors and other individuals and families facing difficult circumstances in Orléans. The organization is supported by more than 80 volunteers.
Along with distributing food, the Centre connects people with additional resources, responding not only to hunger but also to the pressures that often surround it, including poverty and unemployment, the board said.
For St. Matthew students, the fundraiser made food insecurity — which the board noted can exist quietly even in familiar neighbourhoods — an immediate and local concern. The people who will benefit from the donations are neighbours and members of the same community.
Part of a board-wide theme
The fundraiser aligns with the OCSB's theme for this school year, "Nourish New Beginnings," which the board says encourages students to express their faith through practical care for others.
The canned goods collected will help feed people in Orléans, while the funds will support the Community Compassion Centre's ongoing work providing assistance and stability to families, according to the Ottawa Catholic School Board.
Students also took something away from the experience itself, the board added: an understanding that they are not too young or too limited to make a difference in their own community.
