A lot has changed for Ineke Boekhorst and the Starfish Pack Program in the last two months.
Not only has the funding for the student charity more than doubled, but it has also significantly increased the number of hungry students that it helps each week.
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Boekhorst, who is the chair of the program, said that a $15,000 donation from Prospera Credit Union was a large part of what kept the Starfish Pack Program from having to close its doors at the end of 2022.
A gofundme set up for the program also received upwards of $5,000 in donations in a little more than a month.
“We were so desperate and needed more funding to continue the program at the time, and we didn’t know what to do,” said Boekhorst. “The response from the community was so heartwarming and so immediate. It gave us hope again.”
She also had many community members approach her about volunteer opportunities with the group, which led to the program adding four new volunteers, which Boekhorst said is the max that they can handle at the moment.
“We also had a group of employees from our local Chances Casino come out one week to assist with packing the starfish packs, in addition to donating $3,000,” said Boekhorst.
Having this surge of funding and volunteers allowed the Starfish Pack Program to help students from two more local schools, adding Whonnock Elementary and c’usqunela Elementary to the list.
“We are now serving 250 starfish packs every week in 23 Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows schools,” said Boekhorst.
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But despite the flood of support from the community, the Starfish Pack Program is not quite out of the woods yet.
Boekhorst explained that with the current funding the group has, they’ll be able to continue helping students dealing with food insecurity until mid-April.
“We hope the community will continue to support the program, so we can continue until the end of June 2023,” said Boekhorst.
In order to make it to the end of the school year, Boekhorst estimates that the Starfish Pack Program will need another $40,000 to $50,000, which she said would also give them enough money to start up the program again next September.
“The Meadow Ridge Rotary Club is planning to organize a major fundraiser, with all proceeds going towards the Starfish Pack Program over the summer months,” said Boekhorst. “This will guarantee enough funding for the 2023/2024 school year, starting September 2023.”
But before that can happen, the student program still needs to survive the rest of this school year.
Donations to the Starfish Pack Program can be made by visiting https://www.gofundme.com/f/starfish-pack.
More information on the program is available at https://starfishpack.com/.
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