Adopt-A-School: Britannia Secondary wants to dismantle barriers
“If food is not a factor, and (adequate) clothing is not a problem, students can focus on what matters most which is their education and development.” — Britannia Secondary School principal Alec MacInnes The effects of poverty in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside resulting in inadequate food, inadequate clothing, lack of ordinary necessities from toothpaste to laundry […]
Coquitlam’s Encompass Alternative program staff have been giving until it hurts
Principal Lisa Dubé, youth worker Karin Leathwood and others at Coquitlam’s Encompass Alternative program — with their families, friends and acquaintances — know how it feels to give till it hurts. Over the years The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School (AAS) campaign has found many instances of staff reaching into their pockets to help needy students. But […]
Adopt-A-School: COVID-19 has made things tough at Nakusp Secondary School
Nakusp Secondary School principal Peter Gajda is asking The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt A School campaign for $5,000 to provide more food and hot meals each week. NAKUSP — It sounds like an apology but it’s really a joke when Peter Gajda says that for people who don’t know much about the town it’s usually described […]
Adopt-A-School: London Drugs steps up to assist kids at inner city schools
“Being able to give back to those in need in the communities we serve is paramount to London Drugs. Especially this year, we want to do as much as we possibly can to make the holidays brighter for families and for those who are most vulnerable in our communities.” — Edwin Chang, London Drugs store […]
Adopt-A-School: Improving the life chances for students
NANAIMO — Brett Hancock, principal of the alternative school system in Nanaimo, has learned that for a number of his students facing financial hardships, academic success can be explained by a simple equation: food + clothes = graduation. That is why he is grateful to the Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School campaign for providing the food and […]
Adopt-A-School: A little help with necessities keeps a family going
Surrey school district’s Welcome Centre and the Safe Schools Wraparound program tap Adopt-A-School in effort to keep kids at risk on a healthy path The lot of the Soleil family, which came to Surrey in 2009 as refugees from the Congo wars, can be summed up in two words: triumph and tragedy. Much of what […]
Adopt-A-School: School uses funds to feed family jobless because of COVID
About a quarter of the kids at Matheson Secondary come from low-income families After all the travails caused by the pandemic — unemployment, hunger and the stresses that come with sudden impoverishment — the Mendoza family is finally getting back on its feet. “We’re a big family, there’s me, my husband and five children, and […]
Adopt-A-School: Helping kids who may not have food outside of school
Grants target student hunger in Surrey schools For Manjot Badesha, it was only a matter of time before the emotional toll of it all kicked in. The family outreach worker at Hjorth Road Elementary, an inner city school in North Surrey, was describing the daily efforts the staff are making to alleviate the suffering of […]
Adopt-A-School: A little effort goes a long way at Pacific Custom Brokers
Pacific Custom Brokers has adopted Royal Heights Elementary School in North Surrey, a small school that has many families struggling Three years ago the owner of Pacific Custom Brokers, Glen Todd, was scanning the pages of The Vancouver Sun and was stopped short by a story outlining the plight of children coming to school hungry […]
Adopt-A-School: Wellington Elementary is struggling to feed its impoverished students
“Because of COVID we can’t bring volunteers into the building for the food program so we are trying to reinvent it. We are going to have to get prepared food and are looking to have leadership students with a cart to deliver it.” — Susan Reno NANAIMO — COVID-19 has caused upheaval and distress in […]