‘Our kids depend on it’: Hagersville school nutrition programs get major boost
A major donation will keep kids at three Hagersville-area elementary schools from going hungry in class next year.
The board of the Hagersville Food Bank decided to donate $31,367 to Haldimand-Norfolk REACH’s Child Nutrition Network after The Spectator reported the agency’s school snack programs were underfunded to the tune of $20,000 amid a 40 per cent rise in demand and the soaring cost of food.
“We saw the article in The Spectator saying there was a shortfall and we thought, we’ll fix that,” food bank co-ordinator Dave Lang said at a cheque presentation on Tuesday.
The donation will fully fund the nutrition programs at St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary School, Hagersville Elementary School and Walpole North Elementary School for the 2024-25 school year.
“Funds like this will definitely keep Hagersville going the whole year,” said Sharon Smyth, who facilitates REACH’s Child Nutrition Network.
Every day, the agency feeds more than 8,500 students in 46 schools between the two counties. Smyth the need is growing at the elementary and high school levels alike.
“We have a lot of kids coming in hungry,” said education assistant Julie Whyte, who runs the nutrition program at St. Mary’s.
“Grocery prices are so high that it makes it very difficult for parents.”
The program at St. Mary’s started last January.
“We were seeing a need,” said Whyte, noting the school spent about $12,000 on snacks, breakfasts and lunches this year.
The long-running snack program at Hagersville Elementary recently expanded to a full breakfast program due to demand from students and families, said education assistant Bridget Woolstencroft.
“Our kids depend on it,” she said, explaining the money from the food bank will allow the school to feed kids in need on more days of the week.
The donation from the food bank to REACH was part of the windfall from Hagersville’s wildly successful Catch the Ace fundraiser last year, which brought in over $2.4 million for local charities.
The local Lions Club donated $869,000 to the food bank, and the board directed a portion of those funds to area schools in what Smyth confirmed is one of largest single donations the Child Nutrition Network received all year.
“This was a great support for our schools in Haldimand County,” she said.
J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator
