Children throughout the Algoma District who were participants in the school breakfast program will see the program continue but at home rather than in school.
Algoma Family Services CEO Ali Juma says several school boards across the district have teamed up with the agency to officially launch the program this week.
Juma says families will enjoy a good breakfast in the comfort of their own homes with a weekly delivery of a food bag, some 650 families in all.
He adds the bags will contain a variety of foods such as fresh fruit, milk, cereal and bread.
Volunteers will drop off the bags and a family wanting to be part of the program can contact the Algoma Family Services online.
The agency in collaboration with the Algoma District School Board, Huron Superior Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario, Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l’Ontario and the Transportation consortium, will ensure families will receive a bag of food delivered to their doorstep. Items found in the food bags include bread, a box of cereal, 4L of milk, apples, oranges, yogurt, granola bars, crackers, cheese and more. This is also made possible in partnership with Lock City Dairy who will source, package and drop the bags across Algoma for volunteers to deliver to families. This initiative will see up to 650 food bags delivered to area families each week.
The AFS Student Nutrition Program funded by the Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services, Breakfast Clubs of Canada and The Grocery Foundation works to improve the learning capacity, health and well-being of children by ensuring students have access to healthy food through school-based nutrition programs. The program provides assistance to schools implementing nutritious morning meals, snacks and lunches. Currently, the Student Nutrition Program has a presence in 97 percent of schools throughout Algoma. In 2019, the Student Nutrition Program through its partnership with schools prepared over one million meals. These meals took the form of a breakfast, snack and/or lunch program.
“Good nutrition is the underpinning of good mental and physical health, and during this challenging time where families are isolating to keep safe, it is important families have access to nutritious food,” adds Juma. “We are incredibly proud of our small but mighty Student Nutrition Program team for their creative ways in working with the schools and service partners to ensure children, youth and their families have food while school is out. Thank you to our awesome partners for making this happen.”
Algoma Family Services is a provider of specialized services for infants, children, youth, adults and families in the Algoma District. Services are evidence-based, client-centered, family-focused and delivered by a team of skilled professionals.