Parents on B.C.'s Salt Spring Island organize grocery store grad party that gives to food bank
Maryse Zeidler | CBC News | Posted: June 21, 2020 12:00 PM | Last Updated: June 21, 2020
Gulf Islands Secondary School students celebrated a socially distanced grad at local Country Grocer
The graduating high school class of 2020 on Salt Spring Island, B.C., was treated to a unique celebration to commemorate graduation last Wednesday.
Usually the parents of the Grade 12 class at the Gulf Islands Secondary School organize an all-night dry grad party, but because of restrictions in place for COVID-19 they had to get creative. So the parents put on an event at the one place they knew people could still gather, sort of: the grocery store.
"We just couldn't let go of the idea of not doing anything," said Karin Beviere, a mother of one of the grads and the lead organizer of the event on the island located in the Strait of Georgia between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.
"We gave them an opportunity to dress up and wear their finery, come together, and do something different."
The event took place after-hours at the local Country Grocer supermarket. Of the 121 students from the graduating class, about 80 said they would attend. Parents organized two shifts of 40 students, and gave each of them $15 to spend on groceries to be donated to the local food bank.
But mostly, the event was for the kids to get together in the dresses and suits they had already bought and see each other one last time.
Aramis St. Gelais, one of the students who attended, said when he first heard about the grocery store party he was a little disappointed, but ultimately he was glad to help out the food bank and for the opportunity to see his friends.
"It's really great for us to keep in touch, especially because we're all moving on to the next stage in our life," St. Gelais said in a video captured at the event. "It's a really great send off."
Wyatt Sawchuk, another student, said the event was a "win-win" for the graduating class and the food bank.
"We turned a bad situation into a good one," Sawchuk said, also in a video at the event.
Matteo Hermani, operations manager at the Salt Spring Island Country Grocer, says the party seemed like a sensible way for the kids to gather given that the store already had all the protocols and systems in place to ensure social distancing.
"It is weird," said Hermani, whose daughter is part of the graduating class. "But it's memorable."
Students stood in line two metres apart waiting to get in, and were given hand sanitizer. Once inside, parents and staff were stationed throughout the store to encourage the students to stay apart — or at least stayed within the pods of friends they had formed.
Hermani says he discussed the event with his staff, and they were excited to help out.
"Most of them were thrilled," he said. "They had a hoot."
Beviere says the local community has always been supportive of the graduating class and this year was no different.
In addition to the money fundraised to give the students so they could buy their food bank donations, Salt Spring Island businesses donated some items that were auctioned off to the students.
Like most people in the world, the parents hope the pandemic will soon come to an end. But Hermani says that if self-isolation rules are still in place at this time next year, he would gladly host a grad event at the store again.