Madawaska Valley District High School (MVDHS) students have stepped in to aid community members with flood preparations. Principal Dean Zadow emailed the parents of all high school students the evening of April 24 asking for their permission for students volunteering to help fill sandbags in preparation for yet more rainfall that was expected. About 45 students arrived at school this morning with the necessary permission notes.
The Current visited them at the Killaloe-Hagarty-Richards Fire Hall in Round Lake Centre. The students were hard at work in two groups under the supervision of Ms. Cruchet, Mr. Stone and Mr. Hartwig.
Students had kept count of the impressive number of vehicles they loaded up with sandbags they had filled. By noon they had loaded more than twenty half-ton pickup trucks, plus some SxS vehicles, a van and some trailers. They were in good spirits and clearly understood the importance of their contribution, saying they were “doing it for the community.”
When Zadow contacted Jim Manion of J. & V. Manion Inc. looking for a bus to transport the students, Manion agreed without hesitation, saying he was happy to do so at no charge. He and his wife told The Current that their own experience on Kamaniskeg Lake during the 2017 freshet brought home to them how essential it is for everyone in the community to pull together. Manion said he was delighted to discover he could fill a bus with volunteer students and teachers. He dropped the students off in Round Lake Centre at 9:00 a.m. after the morning school run and planned to pick them up around 1:30 p.m.
