Maple Ridge food bank asking for more support for school meal programs

The Friends in Need Food Bank needs donations to feed school children for the coming year, as food costs increase, along with the demand for more meals.

In January 2016, the food bank established the School Meal/Snack program which provided food to any school in SD42 to address the needs of food insecurity.

“If our children are going to school hungry and without packed lunches, they cannot focus and learn on empty stomachs,” said executive director Mary Robson.

The need was clear, and the program quickly expanded from a handful of elementary schools to all schools in the district, including alternative education programs. Participating schools place their orders on a weekly basis for whatever program they wish to run whether it be a shared snack basket, or a sit-down breakfast and/or lunch.

Robson said the budgets for the first few years were quite manageable, and Friends in Need was able to provide a good percentage of the product from food donations and reclaim.

That is changing in the current economic climate.

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In the 2020-21 school year, the expenditure for food for the school program was over $63,000 which. That increased to $77,000 the next year, and last year expenditures were $113,000 – or about a 47 per cent increase.

Friends in Need is currently fundraising to be able to continue to provide the School Meal/Snack Program. The budget for the coming school year is more than $140,000. To date the food bank has raised about 40 per cent of that, thanks to the ongoing support of organizations such as the Lions Clubs, Royal Canadian Legion Women’s Auxiliary, Rotary Clubs, Ridge Meadows RCMP and many businesses and individuals who support food security for our children.

This school year, School District 42 received $1.9 million in provincial funding to establish universal school meal programs. These funds will be used for pilot programs offering lunch for all students at Eric Langton, Harry Hooge, Albion, Glenwood, and Highland Park elementary schools.

Irena Pochop, school district spokesperson, said SD42 hopes to continue to expand the program in elementary schools in future years. The funding is expected to remain unchanged under the province’s Feeding Futures School Food Programs.

Friends in Need is asking for the community to support their program, which Robson said is still addressing a need. Donations can be made online at canadahelps.org.

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