Technology opens the school door — both real and virtual — for vulnerable students
The shy young man doesn’t speak or show his face. All I see during a video call is a hand holding up sophisticated sketches that might some day be turned into animation. The silent student is into anime — the distinctive Japanese animation style — and he’s also working on a graphic novel. He just […]
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 […]
Donors’ amazing generosity hits $500,000 milestone
When we kicked off our 10th annual Adopt-a-School fundraising campaign in November, we were hopeful that Vancouver Sun readers would once again open their hearts — and their wallets — and donate to The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund project that began in 2011 as a means to provide food security and other basic necessities to […]
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 […]
Adopt-A-School: Families in need aren’t rare at Prince Charles Elementary
Adopt-A-School: COVID adding to pressures of impoverished For almost 20 years Amy Lauwers, the child care worker at Surrey’s Prince Charles Elementary school, has been helping families trapped by poverty but she’s now seeing families going under who in normal times were self-sufficient. “Now the pandemic’s in play it’s difficult for some people to stay […]