For Krissy Eppele, principal of Surrey’s Mary Jane Shannon Elementary school, the breakfast program that some mornings feeds as many as 65 hungry children is the best way for them to start the day.
“It’s a big part of our school community. It’s not just about filling their bellies to give them energy to learn, it’s also a great time for them to make connections. You see them talking to each other while they are enjoying their food,” says Eppele.
The breakfast is supported by the Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School (AAS) program which this year received a $25,000 donation from the OpenRoad Foundation, the charitable arm of the OpenRoad auto dealership group.
A number of employees from the OpenRoad Porsche Centre in Langley recently came to the school to help serve breakfast and see for themselves what their donation is supporting.
“It’s a great program they have here,” said Sim Varpaul, the sales coordinator of the Porsche Centre who along with the dealership’s administrator, Ashikaa Naidu were there to watch the children arriving at 8 a.m.
“They are really nice,” said Varpaul later. “One of the little girls came up and began talking to me. It was heart-warming.”
She was surprised to find the menu changes every day. A typical menu might offer bagels,cereal, milk, fruit (peaches, mandarin oranges this day) eggs, yogurt and cheese sticks – usually seven items available for the children to choose.
The school has 390 students, a number of whom are new to the country or whose families are refugees. These are the families suffering most from the high cost of living – the price of food and housing – which results in parents being unable to adequately feed their children.
Numerous teachers applying for help from AAS have said they need to send food home with children or give families grocery cards to ensure food was available for them at weekends or times in the month when there was no money or food in the house. Eppele has access to a $2,500 emergency fund provided by AAS that can be used to help such families.
The principal said the relief she sees on the faces of newcomer parents when they find their children will be fed at school “breaks your heart.”
“When we tell them their children will be cared for right away, it brings them such a sense of relief. So I would like to thank OpenRoad for supporting our kids.”
Naidu said they would take the message back to their co-workers “that this is a really good program and we are grateful to be part of it.”
This year the Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund which administers AAS sent more than $2.3 million to hundreds of schools across the province that had asked for help to feed, clothe and provide necessities to impoverished children.
There are no administration fees deducted from donations. One hundred percent of donations are directed to schools.
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