Sarah Pippus in charge of the Breakfast Program at Hillcrest school along with other volunteers is gearing up for another season of providing breakfast to students to start off the day right. 

"We are just entering our 8th year of breakfasts here at Hillcrest school, and it starts up September the 12th. And we're looking forward to students getting back into breakfast. We always give them a little time at the start of the year to settle into school, and then we roll breakfast out usually a week after they've started. And its just a good way for them to start the morning, we've done this breakfast for the last 7 years, this is going into the 8th. And we're just really excited to have the community support that we have as I got back to work this year. Funds rolled in from all sorts of places, to support what were doing this here. Its a really nice way to start the year, to have service groups and church groups. And different parts of grants that come in, the United Way of Estevan is on board again this year, supporting our breakfast program in a significant way. I'm just really grateful to the community that keeps on coming out and providing good volunteers. And the businesses that send volunteers, just doing an excellent job at supporting the projects we have here at Hillcrest."

Pippus had this to say in regards to volunteers, "We do need volunteers ongoing, that as soon as my snowbirds go south right around the November mark. We see a drop-off in volunteers, a lot of my volunteers are retired people who can come out on those days. But if someone wants to volunteer or start at that time it would be perfect. I let them pick there time and day, and whatever works in terms of their schedule and we kind of just go from there. But I think other than that, our start-up crew looks really good on all of the days. We've got a group coming from the Comp, the Random Acts of Kindness group is going to provide volunteers again. And we just have volunteers all over the place right now."

If you are interested in helping out you can call the school at 634-4931 and ask for Sarah. She will put you to work and have you trained up quickly and efficiently.

A great memory Pippus recalls from last years program, "I think just seeing our own kids get involved, that was one of the nice things that happened last year. We've had some students that all along the way have volunteered and been involved, making sure that things go well. Its kind of nice to have our kids learn about volunteering, and step into those roles. That is one of the things that happened in this past year that we found was significant. Because that means we're not just providing breakfast to the kids, they're actually understanding what the whole process is about. Getting along and supporting other kids, its really nice to see them when new kids start at our school, how they're introduced to the breakfast program. Its a really nice view of how the kids actually feel about our breakfast program, when they're the ones coming and saying to the new students 'this is what this is' and its a really nice reflection of what we're doing."

Helping provide breakfast for the students helps to get the mind ready for a day of learning.