As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches from weeks to months once vibrant schoolyards across the province have gone quiet, leaving some vulnerable kids in our communities missing not only the structure and play that going to school provides, but also meals.
That’s because at school, many vulnerable kids receive breakfast, lunch or snacks through United Way of the Lower Mainland’s Community School-based programs. They also get backpacks of food from our frontline partner agencies Backpack Buddies, KidSafe and Starfish Pack to help fill the weekend hunger gap.
Food insecurity on the rise
The thousands of kids these programs serve will not be returning to class or the school meal programs they rely on anytime soon. And, with more and more families out of work and unable to prepare for the impacts of COVID-19 on daily life, the demand for food to feed their children is skyrocketing.
“The need has grown tremendously. We now have a seven-day hunger gap,” says Emily-anne King, Vice President and Co-founder of Backpack Buddies, which operates out of North Vancouver and serves the Greater Vancouver area “There are many, many more families in need than ever before (due to this crisis) with layoffs.”
United Way partners meeting needs
United Way is mobilizing our network of community partners, businesses and local residents to ensure that kids and their families get the food they need during COVID-19.
United Way partners Backpack Buddies, KidSafe, and Starfish Pack are taking action in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley with staff, facilities, vehicles and stringent safety protocols to help kids and their families get through this difficult time.
Backpack Buddies received $30,000 from United Way and is using it to increase the amount of food they purchase to fill backpacks, expanding upon the usual healthy snacks to include more staples for the whole family over the next three months.
“We delivered 11,000 bags of food last week.” says Emily-Anne. “We’re bulking the bags up with as much food as we can. We typically fill a bag with $10 but thanks to the United Way grant we’ve been able to up that to $15, adding more family-specific items like pasta and beans.”
Fraser Valley families get support
In Mission, every weekend, teams from the Starfish Backpack Program distribute backpacks containing two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners and two snacks to hungry kids and their families. The program is receiving $2,000 monthly for a minimum of four months from United Way.
“[This] enable[s] them to expand the program to feed the growing number of children whose parents have lost their job during the COVID-19 crisis,” says Janet Chalmers, a Mission resident who has been highly involved with the Starfish program.
“This contribution from the United Way will ensure that no one goes without this support.”
KidSafe’s mission has always been to provide nurturing, safe havens for vulnerable kids when schools are traditionally closed. Located in Vancouver’s Chinatown, they work at nine inner-city elementary school sites. They have extended their vital programs for the duration of the pandemic with United Way providing them a $10,000 grant that will allow them to provide 4,000 meals and snacks for kids, ensuring their health and safety.
Kim Winchell, Director of Social Impact and Community Investment with United Way says ensuring kids get their needs met without delay is a top priority.
“One of the first things we saw when this pandemic hit was schools having to close, putting already vulnerable kids at more risk. Working with Backpack Buddies, Starfish and KidSafe, we’re able to get much needed food to those kids right away.”
Vulnerable kids need our help
United Way has responded to the most urgent and pressing challenges throughout our 90-year history, and we have always been there for each other.
While COVID-19 is having unforeseen impact, we are tackling this crisis with a familiar approach: by mobilizing everyday citizens in building collaborative solutions and creating life-saving connections in the communities we all love and call home.
Working with these partners is just one example of United Way’s commitment to local love in action.
Emily-anne says: “When our bags show up, kids feel like somebody cares about them.”
Find out more about how you can help here: https://uwlm.mydev.ca/covid19/
Topics : Kids and Youth, Local love