This year, Surrey has asked The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund board, which administers Adopt-A-School, for $100,000 to provide food for Attendance Matters.
Vancouver lawyer Jack Kowarsky’s decade of support for The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School (AAS) campaign on behalf of the Lohn Foundation has fed many thousands of impoverished school children arriving at school hungry.
The foundation’s donations to AAS support Surrey’s Attendance Matters program which feeds 1,000 children each day in 32 inner-city schools.
These schools have a high number of families – including new immigrant and refugee families – who struggle to pay rent and feed themselves.
One of those schools is Riverdale Elementary where principal Rachel Ladd says she’s worried about the welfare of some of her students who might only be getting fed at school. “We have a huge number (of families) that need support with groceries or food to take home,” says Ladd with some students who arrive and “haven’t had anything to eat since they left here yesterday.”
Another problem is the number of children who had no coats or boots to get them through winter and she had appealed to a school in South Surrey for a supply of donated clothes.
This year, the Surrey School District has asked The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund board, which administers AAS, for $100,000 to provide food for Attendance Matters.
This is part of a $383,000 request to help feed, clothe and provide for impoverished children throughout the district, which is the largest in the province.
Without this money those children would not receive the help teachers say they need. Kowarsky says it was “very concerning to see families not having enough to eat or unable to provide proper clothing for their children.”
That’s why the Lohn Foundation has donated $100,000 for Attendance Matters this school year with a further $25,000 to be used for clothing, $2,000 of which will be sent to Ladd.
This year’s donation raises the amount received by AAS from the Lohn Foundation to $775,000. “I’m glad to be able to support this school with funds for breakfast and for winter clothes.
Children can’t be left hungry at school or without adequate clothes. It’s just not right,” says Kowarsky.
Earlier this year, the chair of the Surrey school board, Laurie Larsen, thanked Kowarsky for the Lohn Foundation’s support since 2014.
“It’s my privilege to be able to write and thank you for your contribution to Surrey schools over the past 10 years,” she wrote in a letter dated March 7. “I’m no stranger to the challenges some families in our district continue to face…
“Our educators are dedicated to ensuring that every student has access to the resources and opportunities they need to achieve success.
“As you know not all of our young people start out on this journey on equal footing but that does not mean they cannot achieve all their dreams,” wrote Larsen.
She then referenced Kowarsky’s own background as a refugee child and Holocaust survivor who came to Canada after the Second World War from Poland.
Kowarsky, now 85, lived in poverty when his family first arrived. But he went on to build a successful career as a lawyer.
“Your ability to overcome the odds and then to turn around and lessen those odds for our students is inspiring,” Larsen said.
“Our Attendance Matters program would not be the program it is without the $650,000 you have provided over the years … without a nutritious morning meal our students would otherwise be unable to learn.
“Your generous donation ensures these students feel supported and can focus on learning and playing rather than where their next meal is coming from.”
Schools across the province are asking AAS for a total of $2.9 million, the majority of requests are for funds to buy food.
All donations to AAS will be sent to schools. No administration costs deducted from donations.
By Gerry Bellett (gbellett@gmail.com)
