A group of businesses and volunteers in Northumberland County is being celebrated for delivering the goods to ensure students who need food to succeed in school, will get it, even while at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It started last spring when the pandemic hit, and the local partners in Northumberland Food for Thought received funding from the Breakfast Club of Canada.
They were able to supply and deliver food to the homes of 320 students in Northumberland County who could no longer access the Student Nutrition programs at the schools because of the COVID-19 shutdown.
Working with school principals they were able to identify students at 25 local schools who would benefit from the food. Local groceries and eateries supplied the food and eleven volunteer drivers made the deliveries.
They also provided learning arts/kits and activity backpacks.
“It’s a great news story that shows the power of passionate people and partners to overcome adversity and obstacles, even in the midst of a pandemic,” says Beth Kolisnyk, the Community Development Coordinator with NFFT (www.northumberlandfoodforthought.ca), the organization that coordinates Student Nutrition Programs at local schools. “We are thrilled at what was accomplished, especially being able to support school-aged children and their families in need during the COVID-19 school closure.”
Normally, children and youths can access food through the Student Nutrition Programs at their schools, so they are not distracted by empty stomachs from learning in the classroom. Last spring, however, when schools had to close due to COVID-19, this whole model was thrown out the window. “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary solutions, and our partnership with Local Food for Local Good certainly delivered that,” Kolisnyk says.
Local Food for Local Good received help from Cobourg grocer, The Market and Smor, to supply more than 430 fresh food boxes for students, while also enlisting Port Hope teaching kitchen/restaurant, Food Inspired, and Campbellford-based eatery, Dockside Bistro, to prepare nearly 1,500 meals for students and their families. Eleven volunteer drivers then delivered the food, as well as learning/arts kits and activity backpacks, to the homes of these students across Northumberland County.
In a statement, Nicole Beatty, theBoard Chair of Local Food for Local Good said, “The first wave of COVID-19 provided us with an opportunity to mobilize community members to ensure that school-aged children and youth did not go without access to fresh, healthy food while schools were closed. In partnership with NFFT, we were able to connect with families and fill an essential gap that, if left unaddressed, would have impacted food security for many in our community.”
With schools back in session this fall, local student nutrition programs are back up running with strict pandemic precautions in place.
