Students at Edna Staebler Public School collect hundreds of donations for Food4Kids
Students collected over 470 food items that will help food insecure families
Hundreds of food items that were collected over the month of November at Edna Staebler Public School in Waterloo, Ont., will go to children in Waterloo region who don't have enough to eat at home.
Food like cereal, canned meat and peanut butter were gathered for Food4Kids, an organization that delivers healthy and fresh foods to families on weekends and during the winter, spring and summer breaks — times when kids can't take advantage of in-school nutrition programs.
According to the latest hunger report from Feed Ontario — an organization made up of 1,200 Ontario food banks — more than 587,000 adults and children in Ontario accessed a food bank between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022.
In Waterloo region, one in 14 families have used food bank programs in 2022, compared to one in 20 in 2021, according to an annual report by the Food Bank of Waterloo Region. Food4Kids' own numbers show there are 3,000 children without enough to eat in the region.
The idea for the food drive came from teachers Jennifer Wilson and Katie Procunier, who volunteered with the organization last summer and saw the impact Food4Kids has on families in need.
"We really saw the families face-to-face and who [the program] was reaching and it made a huge impact on us and that's why we brought it to our school," Wilson, who teaches Grades 1 and 2, told CBC News.
"We hope to continue this tradition here at Edna Staebler now and also in the spring before the summer program starts up."
The school's Storm Squad, which promotes events among students, played an important role in encouraging classmates to bring a donation for the food drive. The group met at lunch to write announcements, create posters and count donations.
"It was kind of like a race. We had a goal that we were trying to reach by the end of each week," said Grade 8 student Isabella Sim.
Donations exceeded their expectations, she said. In total the school collected over 470 donations, including canned meat, peanut butter and cereal.
'Huge difference' in classroom when students are well fed
Food4Kids says it supports over 1,000 families who are food insecure across the region. Wilson and Procunier say they've seen the difference a full belly can have for students.
"Especially teaching kindergarten, I find their emotions and their feelings are so close to the surface that if we have students that come to the classroom with out having what they need, you can see their emotional control and regulation is out of control," Procunier said.
"When everyone is full and they have everything they need then you notice a huge difference in the classroom in how they can regulate themselves. It makes a huge difference not just on learning but their emotional well-being."
Other food programs like Nutrition for Learning, which provides nutrition programs in schools, also go a long way, but this food drive was planned just as student head into the holiday break in two weeks, Wilson said.
"We know there are families that don't get food throughout Christmas and don't have the school delivery and that's why we focused on the peanut butter and the large boxes of cereal that could go out to families for the two week period," she said.
'It feels amazing'
For the Strom Squad students, knowing they are helping other children feels really good.
"It feels amazing just helping those in need, collecting food and putting them in boxes" said Grade 8 student Nil Cigeroglu. "I'm glad we're helping kids who need it."
Classmate Kendal Wilde agrees and says the donations will be going to families just in time foe the holidays.
"I feel like the gift of food is a really good gift for the families in need, just to give them some happiness this season."
Sounds of the Season is our annual holiday fundraiser in support of The Food Bank of Waterloo Region. Our goal is to raise money, donations and awareness for those facing food insecurity in Kitchener-Waterloo.
