Jeff Hunter introduced Brian Banks of Nutrition for Learning. Nutrition for Learning offers universal access to student nutrition programs in the Waterloo Region. Their mission is to support the overall child well being and ability to learn by ensuring that every student has an opportunity to attend school well nourished. This includes elementary and high schools for the public, catholic, and French school systems.
Nutritional foods help kids learn, it keeps them attentive, engaged, and productive. When students are hunger for too long, they can get frustrated or angry. Sometimes students do not have the voice, choice, or option to eat. 1 in 5 children go to school without having breakfast, and 1 in 10 did not bring enough food for the entire day. There are so many different reasons why - food scarcity, forgotten lunches, grocery shopping not done, price of fruits/vegetables up 23%, or youth are packing their own lunches.
Nutrition for Learning programs do not care why you need the food, you are welcome to the table. They feed everyone. The program is a great tool for community building and some programs have implemented a craft area or chess club. Several schools have used the program to help with disciplinary actions. Students who are sent to the office are asked to sit down, have something to eat and they will be with them shortly. Staff wait 20 minutes and the situation and conversation changes.
The mission to provide the program to every student at every school in the region requires a lot of effort. There are 140 programs with 1,100 volunteers serving over 23,000 youth a day. They provide bins/trays for classrooms or pods to be located in a high traffic area in the school. The budget is 1.5 million.
Opportunity to help - volunteer, run a fundraiser, donate, or just share this story with someone else.
Buy a cookie from the Tim Horton's smile cookie campaign Sept 16 -22, 2019 and in Cambridge proceeds go towards Nutrition for Learning and the Cambridge Memorial Hospital and in Kitchener/Waterloo proceeds go towards Kidsability. Roger Mann closed the meeting.
