Food and Friends at Home

2020 Booster Grant Recipient.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began and schools closed, the Children’s Foundation worried about the students who rely on our Food & Friends school nutrition programs. We know that for many students, the meal they received at school was often the only meal they received that day, making the program vital to their overall health and development. We introduced the first phase of emergency food support initiative called Fresh Food for Kids, and at the beginning we supported the Dufferin Food Share Program and Shelburne Shepherd’s Cupboard Food Bank with food vouchers. Shortly after, we began offering nutritionally balanced food delivered directly to homes of families in need of assistance throughout the summer until schools resumed.

In September, most of the Dufferin school boards restricted student nutrition programs until further notice. The collaboration with the Orangeville Food Bank made it possible for the second phase of our initiative Food & Friends at Home to launch with bi-weekly deliveries of healthy meal/snack kits. These kits provide one meal/snack for each day of school for a two week period and are offering similar foods to what would be provided through a Food & Friends student nutrition program. Thanks to the Dufferin Community Foundation the kits will continue to be delivered directly to families in need until school based student nutrition programs are able to re-open and community volunteers have permission to enter schools.

To learn more about Food & Friends at Home https://www.childrensfoundation.org/what-we-do/food-friends/food-friends-at-home

 

Grant sponsored by: Lisa Leblanc President, Lismar Financial

https://www.lismarfinancial.ca/team/lisa-leblanc

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