Bear Creek Elementary routinely feeds 40 kids who come to school without eating any breakfast
Until this fall, Diana Bradley had been able to use her principal’s fund — a small allotment of government money — to help distressed children attending Surrey’s Bear Creek Elementary school with food and clothing.
But the rising tide of economic hardship caused by food price inflation, increasing gas prices, and higher rents, is bringing pleas for help from families she can’t meet.
She is asking The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund for $2,500 as the school has no other outside donors she can turn to for financial help when families existing on fixed incomes or low-paying jobs run out of food or basic necessities and come to her.
“We don’t have any direct (donors), so as a school we’ve struggled at times,” said Bradley who described the social issues affecting her school — tucked away on 80th Avenue behind Bear Creek Park — as “complex.”
Complex is an all-encompassing euphemism for describing the problems that poverty is causing a significant number of her students.
The demographics speak for themselves: 31 per cent of students belong to single parent families, 15 per cent are low income, 74 per cent speak a language at home other than English and there is a substantial number of families new to Canada or who have come as refugees.
“Each year, we have a high enrolment of new students because our school is situated in a transient community,” Bradley said.
Evictions and problems paying rent are often the cause of families moving and some families are living in temporary accommodation or safe houses.
“We are surrounded by townhomes, trailer parks and basement suites. Our vulnerable and at-risk students face a myriad of challenges which includes food insecurities, transportation and an inconsistent home base.
This is another way of describing hunger, isolation, and an inability to secure long-term housing.
“In addition, families often face financial hardship due to an increase in rent, bills, and lost wages due to unstable jobs,” she said.
Bradley wants her school to be able to help children in times of emergency when their families are under financial stress and can’t provide what they need. She wants to be able to buy them shoes and clothes, weekend food, grocery gift cards, bus passes, eyeglasses, lice shampoo, hygiene products — items their families often struggle to afford.
“The basic needs have to be met for these children before we can expect them to learn,” she said. “It surprises us when we look at them in school that they can function when these things are not being provided.”
In the cafeteria, a breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, fruit and cereal is served to as many as 40 children a day who are consistently arriving at school hungry.
“If you go in there in the morning,” said Bradley, “it’s a really nice place to be because the kids are super happy. It’s important they are welcomed to the school in a really calm way,” she said.
The breakfast is an integral part of Surrey School District’s Attendance Matters program which is designed to encourage needy children to come to school.
The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund Adopt-A-School program needs to raise $100,000 in order to feed hundreds of impoverished children who are part of the Attendance Matters program in more than 30 schools.
For Bradley it’s important that the school plays its part in helping families who are struggling.
“There’s so much pride involved and things (about what families need) don’t always come out right away until you get to know them. But because we build up a relationship with the families we become their trusted people.
“That’s where the school community comes in and (for those families) that’s really important.”
Help from Adopt-A-School was critical, she said.
By Gerry Bellett (gbellett@gmail.com)