‘Food, warmth, love’ is the mantra at Yale Secondary

‘Food, warmth, love’ is the mantra at Yale Secondary

“The way the economy’s gone, you’ll have a family of five and a mother and they don’t have anything. They don’t have coats, proper shoes, food … nothing.”

Cameron Smith’s mantra of “food, warmth, love” is the bedrock upon which he and other school counsellors and youth-care workers win the trust of the 200 at-risk youth attending Yale Secondary in Abbotsford.

But food is the most important, which is why the school needs $10,000 from The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School program to feed students coming to school desperately hungry.

“The way the economy’s gone, you’ll have a family of five and a mother and they don’t have anything. They don’t have coats, proper shoes, food … nothing,” said Smith.

“As for food, warmth and love, the kids are not getting any of that at home. Their parents are having to work more, their bills are going up, but their wages aren’t, so there’s a lot of need.

“Food’s become a scarcity.”

Yale Secondary has many economically privileged students among its 1,200 pupils, Smith said, because the school is in the most affluent postal code in Abbotsford.

But over the past four years the demographics of the population have changed. “A lot of high-density housing and basement suites have opened up and we are getting a more transient population.

“We found out a month ago that Abbotsford is a hub for the Canadian government to settle immigrants, so we are getting kids from Africa, Afghanistan … and they literally don’t speak a word of English,” he said.

About 20 per cent of the school’s at-risk population are new arrivals to Canada.

There are two programs for at-risk youth — Traverse helps students with intensive behaviour issues, while Lotus helps for those with anxieties.

Lunch is provided as part of the government’s Feeding Futures program.

“It’s a really good thing there are lunches for kids, but they need more than that,” Smith said.

Until last year, the youth-care workers and counsellors provided breakfast for anyone coming into school, but that was shut down when the lunch program arrived. Now they make individual breakfasts for students who come to their counselling centres.

“We are doing it on a smaller level now,” said Smith. “Every morning we are making bagels, sausages, stuff like that for a small number of kids who know where to come and get it. These are kids who didn’t have breakfast or probably a meal at home the night before.

“Feeding them is a two-tier system. We will have a light breakfast and snacks available all day. We also have a fridge and freezer which is stocked so kids can come in and get a pizza, or cheese and pepperoni,” he explained.

Buying the food and filling the fridge is done by educational assistant Marisa Meola who shops on her own time after school or on weekends.

Youth-care workers Hayley Davey and Katie Savage and counsellor Jennifer Wickman keep the food programs running, Smith said.

“They do all the work. There are always sandwiches and fresh fruit, and if kids want food to take home they will pack them a bag. They are the ones making it happen and they do it with an open heart.”

“We have a great team of people,” said Davey, “(but) the feeding and nurturing that occurs is made possible by Adopt-A-School funds.”

This year, provincial policies changed and schools were no longer allowed to distribute gift cards for food, which impoverished families relied on.

Wickman went out and raised money for gift cards herself.

“There was an expectation, and families were banking on getting them. Jennifer went into the community and got a bunch of prizes and at a basketball tournament she did a silent auction and raised $4,000.

“She raised the money for refugee and at-risk families and it changed Christmas for these kids. They got a present, food and warm clothes.

“The need here is massive. Kids will come in and they will say, ‘My mom hasn’t worked in a year and my dad’s been laid off and we don’t have enough food at home for me and my little brother and sister.

“Or they’ll ask if they can take clothes home (from racks of donated clothes) for their smaller brothers and sisters, and we tell them to take anything you want.

“We have kids who are street entrenched and don’t go to school who come in for food. Last week, a girl came in and Hayley says, ‘Good to see you, do you want some food?’ and gave her a couple of lunches and a hot pizza and she left.”

Smith said the Adopt-A-School funds they have received since 2022 were a godsend.

“We have received this (Adopt-A-School) grant for three years in a row. It’s been such a blessing. I honestly don’t know what we would do without it.”

How to donate

1. ONLINE: Donate online with a credit card at www.vansunkidsfund.ca

2. PHONE: To pay by credit card, call 604-813-8673.

By Gerry Bellett (gbellett@gmail.com)

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