Teen leads food drive

After finding out his mom relied on food banks when she was growing up, Devon Laflamme set out on a mission — again.

The Grade 10 student collected 1,600 items for the food drive at John McCrae Secondary School in Barrhaven, doubling his contribution from last year.

Laflamme said he was inspired by his Grade 9 math teacher, Brendan Mooder, and his mom.

“She remembers how excited she was when people would drop off food in boxes, so I kind of wanted to give that feeling to other kids,” he said.

Laflamme has spent the past month going door to door for two hours every other day.

“He’s a go-getter, no matter what he does,” said his mom, Tanya Laflamme.

“He had to wear three pairs of pants on Sunday. It was freezing and he was out for three hours.”

Devon said his siblings Daryl, 12, and Alana, 10, also helped and he doesn’t seem to think it’s such a big deal.

“If I wasn’t doing it, I’d be at home doing nothing. I’d be watching TV. So for this one month out of the year, I could be helping people,” he said.

Tanya said her mom died when she was two, and, with eight kids, her dad needed help feeding them until he got remarried.

To see her son single-handedly raise 20% of the school’s target of 8,000 items, she said, is a good feeling.