Every Monday and Tuesday during the school year, an army of volunteers from Food for Thought is on the front lines battling hunger in schools at Kelowna’s New Life Centre.
“Today we are packaging 3,000 breakfasts for the children within School District 23 who are at risk of food insecurity,” Cheryl Hoffman, Food for Thought’s program co-ordinator, told Global News.
Food for Thought, a charity that’s part of Hope for the Nations, has helped feed hungry school kids in the central Okanagan since 2009.
“A hungry student is not equipped to learn and it’s imperative to the success of a child to have healthy food,” Hoffman said.
Food for Thought estimates that there are almost 5,900 children who live in food-insecure homes in the central Okanagan.
Every day, Hoffman and her volunteers help feed 600 of them by supplying 30 schools in Lake Country, Kelowna and West Kelowna with their breakfast program.
“How can we expect our children to be our future leaders if we don’t feed them?” Boyd said.
Hoffman agrees, adding that with just a small donation, the program can see a big payoff.
“We have seen children because of our program improve their academic performance, make better relationships, their behaviour has improved — this is helping so many children in our community,” Hoffman said.
If you would like to donate, you can go to hopeforthenations.com and click on the Food for Thought donate button.
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