Westminster Savings Credit Union has donated thousands of dollars to the Starfish Backpack Program.
The Starfish program was launched in September 2016 to help feed children in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows school district who have financial constraints at home.
Students, identified by their schools, are given a backpack filled with food to take home on Friday afternoons.
Each backpack contains food for two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners, assorted snacks and three pieces of fresh fruit.
In Maple Ridge, all the food is provided by Save-On Foods at Valley Fair Mall at cost.
The Meadowridge Rotary club provides the backpacks, which are filled with food by volunteers at Burnett Fellowship Church in Maple Ridge, then delivered to participating schools.
“Starting next Friday, we actually have 76 backpacks going out to eight different schools,” said Ineke Boekhorst, past-president of the Meadowridge Rotary.
Two schools in Pitt Meadows and six schools in Maple Ridge take part.
“[The need] is just going up and up,” she said.
Cathy deBoer, branch manager of Westminster Savings on the 224 Street and Lougheed Highway, presented Boekhorst with a cheque for $2,625, enough for five more backpacks.
Marla Gammer, branch manager of the 20201 Lougheed Highway location, presented Boekhorst with a cheque for $1,050, enough for two backpacks.
Boekhorst also had a donation of $525 from Centra Lawyers, who opted to forgo their Christmas party this year and make a donation instead.
And Boekhorst receives ongoing donations from Burnett Fellowship Church, from which congregation volunteers pack the bags every week. Their latest donation was $1,300.
The cost to sponsor a backpack for one child for a year is $525, which is tax deductible.
The Rotary clubs are covering expenses not related to the direct cost of the food, including the backpacks – $35 each.
More sponsors are always needed for the program.
“We’re really fortunate that the community has really embraced this program. We have enough funding to actually cover almost 80 backpacks,” said Boekhorst, who gets extra requests every week from the schools.
“I just got a call from Edith McDermott in Pitt Meadows, which is one of our schools, which needs one extra, and Eric Langton needed two extra last week. So the need is there,” she said.
Currently, the program only runs for the duration of the school year and only in elementary schools. But Boekhorst is striving to make it year-round.
Boekhorst is working with Eric Langton elementary, Burnett Fellowship Church, Meadowridge Rotary and the Friends in Need Food Bank to fill the need during the summer months when school is out.
“Because hunger doesn’t go away,” said Boekhorst.
She is happy that so far the program has been able to fill the need in the schools that the Starfish Backpack program is available.
She does note, however, that if is was offered in all 21 elementary in the district, she would need to fund up to 150 backpacks per week.
To donate contact Boekhorst at 604-467-2420 or go to starfishpack.com/meadowridge.