Pictou County

Karma Closet is serving up success

Students at Northumberland Regional High School in Pictou County get excited about lunch time. It’s not just because they get a break from classes and a chance to socialize. For nearly 200 students each day, lunch time means they get to take advantage of the Karma Closet free lunch program, serving tasty and nutritious meals – with a side of learning.

Karma Closet started as a literal closet, where students could come to pick up a snack or clothes if they needed them. It’s since expanded to include hygiene products and snacks available in bins around the school, lots more clothing, and the daily meal program.

Megan Henshaw and Carly Barnes are this year’s co-leads of the program. Both volunteered with Karma Closet for all four years of high school. Megan runs the weekly meetings and helps out with lunch, while Carly manages the free clothing program.

The free clothing program accepts donations from the community, but there is some work before making the items available for students. “I sort through them and make sure what we’re putting out is appropriate for the season, and if we think people will actually wear them,” Carly explains. “Whatever we don’t keep, we discard and give back to Value Village, and then we keep whatever else we have in the SchoolsPlus room.” At any given time, there are t-shirts, jeans, jackets and hats available for students to choose.

The incredible lunch program

“Sometimes I’ll serve or help clean dishes, but mainly I organize the volunteers to do different things around the school,” says Megan. There are 42 student volunteers across four grades, helping to do everything from filling the bins to serving students to washing dishes. “Every Monday we sit down with the group of volunteers, and we organize five or six people to help a day.”

Ten minutes before the bell rings, a group of students assembles in the room where the food will be served, putting food into serving dishes and preparing for the influx of students who are about to show up. Each day, they have a salad bar with three salads, two or three soups and four hot meals. The meals preparation is part of classroom curriculum, where 16 students per semester take part in the Grade 11 course. They do everything from planning the meals, to budgeting, to preparing the food. In 2024-25 they served 19,000 meals, at a cost of $2.22 per student. The most popular meals? “Definitely mac and cheese, grilled cheese, and pizza,” says Megan.

Building volunteer skills

Student and teacher volunteers are key to the success of the program. In addition to student volunteers, 30 staff also volunteer their time, taking on tasks like monitoring the line, tracking the number of meals served and supervising students. The student volunteers know this is a great opportunity that will help them in the future. “It’s a great working opportunity,” says one student. “I get to talk to people every day and see how they are.”

The program also reduces stigma around food insecurity and poverty.

“If you forgot your lunch, you just want to have something to eat, maybe you have food at home and maybe you don’t,” says Megan. “It doesn’t matter. No one’s judging you because everyone uses it.”