Cape Breton food bank adds more kids' activities this summer, will continue in the fall

The North Sydney Food Bank has expanded its work in the community with summer camp-style programs for kids.

Eight programs are running during the week with 100 kids dropping in to participate.

When the food bank started in October 2022, it had one program with a dozen kids. Participants include children from North Sydney and the neighbouring Cape Breton communities of Sydney Mines and Florence.

There are a range of activities to keep everyone busy, including one where kids write scripts and make their own movies. There's also an art program, sports and outdoor events.

Paige Cox, the youth program co-ordinator, told CBC News the program started because the children in the area needed a place to go during summer holidays and most cannot afford to leave the neighbourhood.

"I was just seeing kids and they wanted somewhere to go and just somewhere to hang out on the North Side, where it could be a walking distance for some kids."

CBRM child poverty rate 33%

According to the 2021 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Nova Scotia, which uses tax information from 2019, the childhood poverty rate in the CBRM is 33 per cent.

To break that down, Sydney's poverty rate is at 21.4 per cent, while the area outside of Sydney is higher. North Sydney's rate is at 26 per cent and nearby Sydney Mines is 27.1 per cent.

Lynn McCarron, the executive director for United Way Cape Breton, says programs like those at the North Sydney Food Bank are important to communities because they provide a place for children to socialize, especially during the summer months. She said some parents can't afford to put their children in organized sports or summer camp.

"I would say that would be certainly extremely important for kids' mental health, for their well-being, even just having some interaction with adults is always important," McCarron said.

Cox, a long-time community volunteer, said she knew there was a need for youth programs and she's already seeing positive changes in some of the kids.

"We're definitely hearing from kids that need the safe space and those kids have really blossomed because of coming to programming. The difference that I've seen in them since they've started is amazing and to see and be a part of that transformation is amazing," Cox said.

Activities for the kids

The food bank is housed in a former elementary school. The youth have planted gardens outside, complete with painted rocks and fairy houses.

Cox said they have a lot of fun.

"I have some kids that, when it's time to go, they ask, 'Can we stay a little longer?'"

Programs run in the afternoons now, but will change to evenings and weekends when school starts in September.