Students at Centreville and Newburgh Public Schools who need access to healthy food at school will continue to receive their weekly delivery from The Food Sharing Project, thanks to a generous donation from the Newburgh-Camden Lions Club. The local Lions Club made a donation of $6,000 to the organization that provides nutritious food to the schools for in-school meals and snacks.
“Young people are our future, and it is important that we give them all the tools they need to succeed,” says Newburgh-Camden Lions Club president Vic Smith, “Healthy food is the most basic thing they need to get through the day, and do well at school, and beyond.”
The Newburgh-Camden Lions Club is a small rural chapter of the international organization and runs activities and raises funds to improve well-being and strengthen communities. The money raised was earmarked for the food programs at Newburgh and Centreville Public Schools, which operate within the chapter’s jurisdiction.
“We are so grateful for donations like this – which is a truly amazing amount for a small community organization – to help us manage the growing demand, and increasing costs for healthy food at schools,” says Andy Mills, Executive Director of The Food Sharing Project. The $6000 donation represents about 75 per cent of the costs of food that Newburgh and Centreville Public Schools will use this school year.
The Food Sharing Project’s mandate is to provide nutritious food to schools, so any student who needs it can access healthy food. They make it possible for school nutrition program coordinators to order everything they need to provide healthy meal and snack programs at their school, every day, for any student, and then gets that food to the school, at no cost.
“We deliver over five tonnes of food – over $25,000 in value – to over 80 schools across Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington every week,” says Mills. Coordinators at schools provide a variety of snack and meal programs that are accessible to any student.
Peter Mouncey, principal at Newburgh and Centreville Public Schools, gives full credit to educational assistants Crystal Blanchard and Tonya Duffy who run the programs at the school level. “Crystal and Tonya make sure that every student has access to healthy food every day. We have well stocked grab-and-go bins in all of our classrooms.” Mouncey goes on to say, “We are enormously grateful to our local Lions Club. They always think of our students and come through for us in so many ways. This donation is another example of their good work in our community.”
This year has been particularly challenging for The Food Sharing Project, as the demand for food at schools has increased and the prices of food have skyrocketed. These increases have been seen at every school served by The Food Sharing Project – 88 in total.
“Research and our school educators tell us that students who eat nutritious food at school are more engaged in their learning, can focus better on tasks and can have more positive social interactions throughout the day,” says Mills. “This generous locally-focused contribution goes a long way to help us provide healthy food to schools.”
For more information about The Food Sharing Project, or to make a donation, visit their website at: www.foodsharingproject.org