VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Should meal programs for students be provided at every school?

A former Vancouver school board trustee says some programs are relying too heavily on corporate and community donations, and he feels provincial funding isn’t going far enough.

Noel Herron was also once a principal at Strathcona Community School and helped launch a breakfast program 25 years ago; It’s been packed from Day One.

While he’s grateful for donations, “you cannot fund these programs on handouts,” he says.

“It’s excellent what they do, but basic programs and services, and this, unfortunately, has become a basic service, should not rely on charity,” he adds.

Linda Murato has been a volunteer at the school for 18 years.

“You can’t teach kids anything if all they can focus on is the sound of their stomachs rumbling,” she points out, noting demand for the program at Strathcona has been growing steadily.

School Board Chair Patti Bacchus says charity works for now, but with more kids in need, it’s can’t last forever.
    
“This is not sustainable,” she believes. “We need to be taking a more comprehensive approach to ensure that every child has access to nutritional food on a regular basis, not just when a charity is able to step up to the plate and I think really, we need to question why we’re at this point.”

“We’re seeing more and more families rely on school meal programs,” adds Bacchus. “We now even have programs where we send kids home with backpacks full of food on the weekend.”

The education ministry says it hands out $62 million a year to 60 BC school districts in part for meal programs and other inner-city needs, but it’s up to individual boards to decide which schools get the money. $51 million is provided through Community LINK, while $11.2 million goes to the Vulnerable Student Supplement.