The Langley School District Foundation's goal is to ensure that no child goes without breakfast or lunch each day. We do our very best to fund schools to run nutritional programs to ensure that our goal is met. Every so often a school grows or experiences needs that exceed our capacity.
James Hill Elementary is an example of that situation. Currently the Foundation has been offering $200 a month to provide for students who come to school hungry. But as the needs are changing, the school finds itself unable to meet with needs without a more formalized format.
One classroom full of kids - that is the number of kids at this school who arrive hungry and without food to sustain them during the day. While quick snacks are easy to provide, these students need a more substantial investment in food programs at their school.
Research shows that when students eat breakfast/lunch they are more prepared to learn, which gives them the opportunity to find success in school. We also know that school provides a lifeline for some students and families. While they are out of school, they may not have enough to meet their needs at home. We would like to start a small backpack program for those students to take home to their families every Friday and on Christmas and Spring Break. For summer closures, we have vulnerable school team leads at each of our schools who provides community resources to step in and fill the gaps.
It is abundantly clear that no child, no matter how smart or dedicated, can learn on an empty stomach. The growls of hunger will drown out the voice of a teacher every time.
The project would be able to roll out as soon as funding is received. The school would utilize paid staff to volunteer to assemble and shop for food. Parents (via the PAC) and other local partners (Church etc.) to assist as needed.
(AAS21-324)
In the fall of 2011, the school year had barely begun at Admiral Seymour elementary when teacher Carrie Gelson, frustrated after a difficult day at work, wrote an impassioned open letter to Vancouver residents asking whether anyone cared that her inner-city students were coming to school cold, hungry and with holes in their shoes. And then something wonderful happened. On the day that The Vancouver Sun published her letter, Gelson arrived at the East Vancouver school to discover that, “People had already dropped off thousands of dollars in cash . . . they literally drove into work that morning bringing donations.”
Clearly, Gelson had revealed a pressing need in our communities and, in keeping with our paper’s long-vested philanthropic commitments, we not only told her story from a journalistic perspective, but asked our readers — through our Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund charity — to help her students and others. And come through our generous readers did.
A decade later, The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund’s Adopt-a-School project has raised more than $8 million in donations both large and small, from individuals and from companies alike, and not just money but clothing, school equipment and field trips.
Since the beginning, our commitment has been to ensure that every single penny donated goes directly to the children, and we have continued to honour that promise. When you donate to The Vancouver Sun Children's Fund, 100 per cent of your donation goes to help children and youth. None of your donation goes to administration costs.
