The former Woodlands Secondary School site is the new home of the Food4Schools program, which delivers food weekly to nearly 1,200 vulnerable students in district 68 weekly. (submitted/Crystal Dennison)

By Ian Holmes

making a difference

School meals program in Nanaimo sees huge surge in users

Dec 7, 2020 | 5:49 AM

NANAIMO — Significantly more students in School District 68 are relying on a critical program to ensure they have enough food to get through the day.

Crystal Dennison, executive director of the Nanaimo Ladysmith Schools Foundation, said their Food4Schools program has seen a sharp rise of participants compared to months before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s a big jump to almost 1,200 students up from 650. Thirty-two schools, up from 16, there’s definitely been an increase.”

The program involves breakfast, lunch and snacks delivered weekly to upwards of 75 students at the busiest school, Dennison said.

A new home base for Food4Schools was recently arranged, allowing for a more suitable depot and sorting location at the former Woodlands Secondary School location.

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The new home is a big upgrade on a temporary setup at John Barsby Secondary School’s multi-purpose room, Dennison said.

“It gives us a spot to coordinate, bring food in, sort it and then from there it’s delivered out to all of our participating schools to be utilized for their feeding programs.”

Dennison said new refrigeration units and shelving were recently installed in the old Woodlands Secondary workout room.

A combination of donated and bulk purchased healthy foods and snacks are placed into into individual hampers based on orders requested by a given school.

Dennison said Food4Schools recently saw usage flatten out, giving the heavily subscribed program an opportunity to strengthen in other areas.

“We’re hoping that this will allow us the chance to really fine tune what we’re doing to work on our longterm partnerships to financially sustain the program.”

Food4Schools was re-tooled in April to deliver hampers to students’ homes after classrooms were shut down province-wide due to the first wave of COVID-19.

Dennison said monetary donations from individuals, companies and services is the most effective way to support Food4Schools.

Details on the program and how to donate online are available here.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes