ALDERGROVE Your Hometown Community Newspaper for over 56 Years
STAR | Thursday, April 16 2015
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Page 4: Memorial for Naturalist Glenn Ryder
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Students share some ‘food for thought’ By KURT LANGMANN Aldergrove Star
Alleviating hunger locally and abroad was the thrust of the day at Aldergrove Secondary school on Thursday, April 9. The school’s Global Education and Leadership class and Langley-based Food for Famine Society co-hosted an event titled United Against Hunger and Poverty in the morning and during lunch hour. Then in the afternoon the school helped pack the Starfish food backpacks for elementary school students who need help getting through the weekends when in-school breakfast and lunch programs aren’t operating. The Food for Famine program included musical and dance numbers by the visiting Japanese dance troupe Terakoya as well as Aldergrove students Danielle Longpre and Ashley Taylor in the school’s dramnasium. However, the emphasis HARRY HUNT PHOTO Aldergrove Secondary School volunteers such as Brody Dunwoody helped pack the first “Starfish food backpacks” last week for was on raising awareness of programs such as Food for delivery to local elementary school students who need help with meals over the weekends.
Famine, Mana Nutrition and Breakfast Clubs of Canada. Guest speakers representing these organizations spoke to the student assembly about their programs. Maria Martini founded Food for Famine in Langley after deciding to do something practical to help feed malnourished children in poverty-stricken countries. Her journey started in June 2008, when she learned how a fortified peanut paste known as Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) was being used to treat Severe Acute Malnutrition. This knowledge altered the trajectory of her life forever. “The miracle of a simple, fortified peanut butter paste that could save the lives of children was astonishing to me. Children no longer needed to die,” says Martini. RUTF (Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food) fortified peanut paste that’s been carefully formulated to provide all of a child’s basic nutritional needs. It has been heralded by SEE: Page 3
Hundreds ride Fraser Valley Express on first day Aldergrove Star
Buses were full Monday, April 6 for the first day of operation of the new Fraser Valley Express (FVX) bus, according to the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD). Although dignitaries rode the bus last week on its official launch, Monday was the first day for public passengers on the route, which connects Abbotsford and
Chilliwack with Langley and the TransLink system. With rides free for the first day, FVRD communications manager Jennifer Kinneman said many locals tried out the service. Exact numbers were not available, but staff estimated that “a couple hundred riders” used the new route, Kinneman said. “It was so great to see so many people on the FVX and using tran-
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sit to travel between Chilliwack and Abbotsford,” said Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz, who is chair of the FVRD. “It was a very positive start to what we hope will be a very popular service, enabling residents to travel in an economical and environmentally friendly way.” The bus runs ever half hour before 9 a.m. and after 3 p.m., and every 90 minutes during the middle of the day and makes two stops
in Abbotsford – at the McCallum Park & Ride and at HighStreet. It connects with TransLink’s Carvolth Exchange in Langley. The FVX does not stop in Aldergrove but riders can connect with it via the BC Transit bus from Aldergrove to High Street or McCallum and travel on to Chilliwack. Individual fares are $5, with children aged eight and under free. Fraser Valley Express proved popular on its first day