HWDSB Staff Partner with Food4Kids on Student Nutrition
HWDSB senior staff pack to support Food4Kids.
By JULIANA GLIGORIC
One cold winter morning in 2011, Food4Kids founder Lena Bassford encountered a 10-year-old student outside of his elementary school’s breakfast program, an hour before it opened. He said he didn’t have any food over the weekend. That’s when Bassford realized the need for a nutrition program even outside of school hours.
Food4Kids is a not-for-profit organization that provides healthy meals to local students age four to 14 who have limited or no food. Food4Kids hand delivers backpacks of food in a non-stigmatizing manner during weekends; they also deliver food baskets during summer break. Each meal includes healthy, non-perishable food items suitable for each age group.
Food4Kids staff and volunteers work relentlessly to fundraise, shop, pack, and hand deliver meals each week to 721 students in HWDSB. Staff and volunteers deliver meals to schools every Friday to ensure that students have food over the weekend. The same students are provided with food and recipes throughout the summer.
“The Food4Kids program provides our students with good nutrition over the weekend which prepares them for a healthy start to the school week,” says Nanci-Jane Simpson, principal of Adelaide Hoodless Elementary School. “Food4Kids provides students with the essentials necessary to achieve success, and has greatly benefited our school.”
Food4Kids provides meals to 44 schools to achieve the HWDSB’s goal of student success, learning, and well-being. The HWDSB’s partnership with Food4Kids ensures that students in need are provided with the meals necessary to contribute to their physical, emotional, cognitive, and academic success.
To donate or learn more about Food4Kids, visit the Food4Kids website.
Updated on Tuesday, March 07, 2017.