A local holiday tradition is returning to support Food for Learning.
The 13th annual Feed the Meter Campaign will once again run through the month of December in Belleville, Trenton and Picton.
All funds collected in downtown parking meters next month will support Food for Learning’s school breakfast, snack, and lunch programs in area schools.
Each school day, more than 4000 students across Hastings and Prince Edward counties are provided with healthy meals and snacks, including students learning virtually from home.
Costs of the program have been on the rise since it has had to be redesigned to accommodate the pandemic and its restrictions.
Increased costs are due to needing to serve individually portioned and packaged foods, a significant increase in the overall cost of food, an increase in student participation and continuing support to both in-person and virtual students
When describing the importance of the Food for Learning program at their own school, a Program Coordinator shared, “By providing daily healthy and nutritious snacks and meals, we are able to support our students, ensuring they are able to attend and focus in class, ready to learn, while concentrating on school work rather than appetite. Knowing snacks are always available, (with absolutely no stigma attached), is a good feeling, and makes for a better day for both students and staff. So happy this program is available. It really has made a difference!”
Donations to Feed the Meter can also be mailed to:
Food for Learning c/o The Hastings and Prince Edward Learning Foundation
156 Ann Street
Belleville, ON K8N 3L3
(please make cheques payable to The Hastings and Prince Edward Learning Foundation)
