Chapter 5. Community Spirit
I saw Kyla at school on Monday. She was with her friends and I decided to just walk past but suddenly I heard my name.
‘Meghan!' shouted Kyla. ‘Come here a minute!'
I went over and suddenly her friends were all around me.
‘Sorry about the photos, Meghan,' one of them said.
‘And the horrible comments,' added another.
Wow! More apologies!
Kyla smiled at me and suggested that we talked to our form teacher together.
‘We can tell him about our problems at home … and the bullying,' she said sadly.
‘OK,' I agreed. I didn't want Kyla to get in trouble but I did want our teacher to know that life was hard for a lot of kids and that cyberbullying was a big problem. Maybe the teacher could organise a class assembly about being kind and helping others.
Hmmm. Helping others? What could I do to help other people more?
I suddenly had an idea … I could ask Mr Turner for more bread and cake at the end of my Saturday shift and take it to the food bank. Or I could deliver it to some of the old people who lived near me and didn't have enough money for treats. I really liked the idea.
I thought about my ideas all week and decided to speak to Mr Turner on Saturday.
I told him all about my family's situation, about the food bank and about my idea for helping more people. He was happy to help.
‘That sounds like a great idea, Meghan,' he said. ‘And you know I don't like food waste.'
I was so excited and I couldn't wait to tell Kyla.
‘Kyla, listen to this,' I said as soon as I saw her.
I explained everything to Kyla and she was really enthusiastic.
‘That's brilliant, Meghan,' she said. ‘But maybe we can do more.'
More? Wow! That sounded exciting!
‘Tell me, Kyla,' I said. ‘What's your idea?''
‘I want to use social media for something positive,' she said. ‘I want to write a post about
the food bank and ask people to make donations.'
Genius!
Kyla had a LOT of followers and hundreds of people saw her post. The food bank received new donations every week from businesses and local people. I was really happy and then about a month later, things got even better. ‘I've got a job, Meggie Moo!' dad shouted one evening.
We had enough money now but I still worked at the bakery - I loved that job - and I still went to the food bank every Saturday with Kyla to help Maureen. After we finished, Kyla and I always went to the supermarket together, but never before 6:00 p.m.! We loved to look at all the stuff on offer in the chiller cabinet on aisle 17. Sometimes we found some unusual yellow sticker ingredients for dinner.
‘What's kale?' I asked.
‘Looks like a kind of cabbage,' Kyla replied.
‘Ok. It's only 45p. Maybe I can use it in a stir-fry with these mushrooms and this beef,' I said.
‘Sounds like a plan!' laughed Kyla.
Kyla often slept over at my house on Saturday evenings and we spent hours inventing recipes with our yellow sticker ingredients. Ok, so maybe our fish and apple rice wasn't the best combination but our pasta bake with tuna, peppers, onions and cheese was delicious! It cost less than 2 pounds to make and everyone loved it! ‘We make some really nice dishes,' Kyla said suddenly. ‘I know,' I agreed. ‘They taste great and they are really cheap too.' ‘Plus we are reducing food waste,' she added. ‘We are!' I smiled. ‘And we can freeze our leftovers too, so there is zero waste!' ‘We are just so cool!' she laughed. ‘Seriously, we should share our ideas.' ‘But how?' I asked. ‘SOCIAL MEDIA!' we shouted in unison. ‘We need our own page,' Kyla said. ‘What can we call it?' ‘We need something original,' I replied. ‘How about The Yellow…?' ‘Sticker Girls!' finished Kyla. ‘I love it!' ‘Me too,' I smiled.
