Since AAS began in 2011, nearly $14 million from generous Vancouver Sun readers has been sent to schools to subsidize breakfast and lunch programs, purchase clothing, weekend food or provide emergency aid to protect the well-being of students. children when there was no other place for families to turn.
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The growth in the number of families unable to cope with the high cost of food and rent has led to an increase in the number of schools seeking help to feed and clothe vulnerable students.
This year, the Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School program received a record number of requests for money from schools to feed children who arrived at school hungry and with little or no food for the rest of the day.
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Families with fixed incomes or minimum wage jobs are hardest hit.
Requests came from 52 BC school districts seeking assistance for hundreds of schools on behalf of thousands of children and families.
So far, $2,342,983 has been sent to schools this year (a record amount) from the Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund board, which administers Adopt-A-School. Several late applications are still being considered.
Since Adopt-A-School began in 2011, nearly $14 million from generous Vancouver Sun readers has been sent to schools to subsidize breakfast and lunch programs, purchase clothing, weekend food or provide emergency aid to protect the well-being of children when there was nowhere else for families to turn.
Of the grants sent to schools this year, $2,129,983 was for food, clothing and emergencies.
About $213,000 was sent to help students participate in activities, or literacy programs, or to provide mentoring help with homework.
Surrey and Vancouver, the province’s two largest school districts, received nearly $1 million combined.
Many of the teachers’ requests spoke of a rising wave of poverty among their students, with high food and housing costs now affecting families who before the COVID pandemic could get by without help.
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“The thought of having hungry children is heartbreaking,” wrote a child and youth worker seeking a $20,000 Adopt-A-School grant for her elementary school.
He said about 60 families were having trouble paying rent and feeding their children, some of whom came from homes where “there was no food in the refrigerator.”
Similar reports came from other schools stating that parents were now sending their children to school in the hope that they would be fed, thus saving their food budget for dinners and weekends.
“The food program is to help alleviate this burden (of providing breakfast and lunch) to our struggling families,” the youth worker wrote. “If we can make sure this is one less stress for our children and families… then we can feel at peace.”
This year, the provincial government introduced its Feeding Futures program, setting aside $214 million over three years to provide school feeding programs – the first time the province has recognized the need for a program to feed schoolchildren.
In the case of the school mentioned above, their portion of Feeding Futures was a $3,000 grant to provide snacks. But the school’s social worker estimated he needed $20,000: $5,000 for a breakfast program, $5,000 for snacks, $1,000 for lunch, $8,000 to provide food to families with insufficient means to feed themselves during the week or on weekends. for the week, and $1,000 for school supplies.
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This spring, the federal government announced $1 billion over five years for a national program that will begin during the next school year and provide food to children who come to school hungry. However, there are few details on how the money will be distributed between provinces.
BC represents 13.5 per cent of Canada’s population. If the 200 million dollars annually are distributed per capita, the province’s share would be about 27 million dollars.
But it’s unclear how effective provincial and federal programs will be in organizing and managing the new program.
When asked how many needy Vancouver schoolchildren Feeding Futures would help this year, a school board official estimated “about 10 per cent.”
Harold Munro, editor-in-chief of The Vancouver Sun and board chair of The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund, said Adopt-A-School will continue to help schools.
“We hope that provincial and federal programs will eventually be enough to reach all the children who come to school hungry and without food to get through the day. In the meantime, we will do everything we can to help,” Munro said.
“And once again, on behalf of the many children and families who have received help, I would like to thank you, our readers, for your extraordinary donations.
“No sensible person would leave children hungry or without proper clothing,” Munro said. “That’s why I want to thank both the teachers who go out of their way every day to help them and our donors whose generosity and compassion make it possible for these children to be treated with care and dignity.”
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