How Many Canadian Children Go Hungry Once School is Out?

Published May 3, 2018 at 9:01 pm

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In this day and age, in a country like Canada, you would think we wouldn’t need to worry about children going to bed hungry.

But it turns out more than 307,000 Canadian children turn to food banks for help every month.

During the school months, breakfast, lunch and after-school programs provide the help they need, but what are these children supposed to do in the summer months?

Food Banks Canada runs the After the Bell program to provide food packs created specifically for children during the summer when they need it most.

Food Banks Canada is an organization that helps almost 850,000 Canadians every month – they distribute over 200 million pounds of food annually.

On May 15 at the International Centre near Pearson Airport, over 200 volunteers and Food Banks Canada employees packed 20,000 food kits to be given to children in need.

The goal of this year’s campaign is to distribute 69,000 food packs to kids across the country.

“Summer hunger is a very real issue. Most children look forward to summer vacation as a time for fun and rest, but for those living with food insecurity, it can be a time of worry,” said Chris Hatch, CEO of Food Banks Canada.

Every child who gets a pack will also receive a voucher for fresh food, to help them make healthy choices and add more nutritional value to their meal.

This year’s packs contain organic milk, hummus, crackers, cereal bars, cereal, applesauce and oatmeal.

After the Bell works with food industry heavyweights such as French’s Food Company, the Global Food Banking Network, Hershey Canada Inc, Kellogg Canada Inc, Loblaw Companies Limited, and Organic Meadow Inc. 

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