Many kids from low-income families are at greater risk of going hungry.

Food for Thought a Hope for the Nations local program was able to maintain food distribution when we saw a tsunami hit our school food programs in March, 2020.  Up until then we were on track, and on budget to finish off the school year.  When the BC Minister of Education announced that schools would be closing, due to the pandemic, we knew the need was going to be big.

Food for Thought saw our Breakfast Program increase from 1600 students to 2700 and our Backpack Program experience a 400% surge of kids in need of food.  High school students, lost part-time jobs and younger students families were experiencing a variety of challenges.  With the help of so many, Food for Thought was able to react quickly.

We were able to gather a small army of five incredible front-line volunteers and worked together with our partners to create a safe space in which we could safely spring into action to respond to the need.  For over twelve weeks we worked directly with the school district to provide over 600 emergency food packages weekly.  Each weekday these packages of nutritional food would be delivered in bins for a student/parent/guardian to pick up at their local school.

Some families did not have transportation to get to a food bank and many thought once the schools closed so would the food programs.  Many parents were emotional and in tears; extremely grateful that essential food was still being sent out to their child’s school.  This eased stress for families, and children could continue to have the nutrition needed to learn and grow.

Thank you to the generosity of our community members that came to the table with rescue funding, immediately following the broadcast of a pandemic.

Moving forward, we are just starting to get glimpses of what school might look like for the fall.  Half-capacity classrooms, hand-washing stations, sparse playgrounds.  In the age of COVID-19, the resumption of classes will not look the same when they left in March. Health, safety and well-being of children will continue to be our priority.