Lake Cowichan’s Riley Morris, 10, is on a mission. His goal, to give bird feeders to seniors.
The Drinkwater Elementary-based Inquisitive Design and Technology Program student is doing the work as part of his Grade 5 passion project at school.
The benefits are two-fold, Morris explained.
“The first is that it can help seniors’ mental health. Seniors can suffer from loneliness and isolation, especially now during COVID-19,” he said. “Providing them with a bird feeder to put up outside their window will give them something to look forward to on a daily basis to see the different birds that will come and visit. Watching and listening to birds can be very calming and enjoyable.”
The project would also help the birds, he added, “especially in the winter, because there is a shortage of food for them.”
Morris said he’s found similar projects in the United States but hasn’t found any in B.C.
He wants to change that but he needs some help. “I am looking for community support. I am reaching out to businesses and community to ask for donations of bird feeders and bird food so I can go around our community and give them to our seniors to make their day a little happier!”
His principal couldn’t be prouder.
“I love when the students engage in passion projects,” said Drinkwater boss Brenda Stevenson. “Not only do these projects help to capture the joy of learning while integrating the curriculum, it gives the students the opportunity to showcase their passions, their creativity and themselves. These projects help to give us a glimpse into who our students are and what drives them. I’m always impressed with the thinking of the students, their commitments to their passions and their ability to see the bigger world — the world beyond themselves. Riley’s project to help support not only the seniors in our community but the birds as well is a great example of this.”
The young man hopes to provide feeders to individuals as well as long term care facilities and hospice facilities.
Morris can be reached through email at: birdfeedersforseniors@hotmail.com for donations to his cause. Alternatively, he’s set up a GoFundMe page to collect the $500 he believes he’ll need to complete his mission.
Visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/bird-feeders-for-seniors to learn more.