Photo: Toni Willoughby

Even a global pandemic can't put a wrench in the plans of Kelowna Secondary School students determined to do their part in helping some of the world's most vulnerable children.

Student Toni Willoughby has taken it upon herself to lead a Move4Mana challenge team for the second year in a row, after the school hosted the exercise challenge for the first time in 2019.

The 30-day challenge encourages students to get active by logging minutes of exercise on the Active for Good app, which provides options such as golf, gymnastics and Tai chi. 

Recorded minutes turn into points, which turn into purchases of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) packets for children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition in South Sudan. 

In 2019, the school raised a total of 45,013 packets, and hopes to make a similar impact this year. 

Willoughby gathered a group of students over the summer to plan this year's challenge, dividing up various tasks to ensure all the bases were covered. 

"It was great having a group of students who were willing to participate and dedicate their time to such a great initiative," she says. 

However, with COVID-19 safety rules in play within the school environment, the organization of a team has been slightly more challenging than in 2019. 

"It's definitely been different to last year. We're relying a lot on social media and word of mouth and just the support from everybody at KSS to get people involved ... it has been harder to reach out to the school community because we're not supposed to interact with other cohorts, so it has been difficult in that respect."

Willoughby says it has been encouraging to see higher engagement from those taking part in 2020, despite having lower participation numbers overall. 

The nutritious food packets are delivered in partnership with World Vision Canada and Mana Nutrition, and the challenge is sponsored by the Food for Famine Society. 

Move4Mana bracelets were handed out to school students with candy on the challenge launch date of Oct. 16.

Willoughby hopes other students and staff will sign up to participate before the challenge ends on Nov. 14.