Breakfast/Lunch program

[Pigskin]

A little while back our church had to shut down our food bank. Monday we decided to close our Sunday morning welcome spot. This was a place homeless and needy people could come and get a coffee and a snack on Sunday mornings. Unfortunately the people using the service were becoming to violent with our volunteers, and each other. This morning we teamed up with one of the elementary schools in the area, and will be servicing breakfast and lunch to all children from that school that are in need of breakfast and or lunch. This is not new to Winnipeg, as there are a few schools in Winnipeg running this program. It's amazing how many children go to school each day without breakfast or skip lunch.   

[DM83]

Schools get grants to run such programs.

[Pigskin]

Great first day at the school. 9 kids to the early morning program. 33 in total for breakfast. Not serving junk like pop tarts or gondola bars. Cereal, oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, and toast or French toast. A big item was banana slice on toast, with cinnamon. Milk, orange and apple juice.

Lunch: We had 42 kids. Today was sandwich day. Sides everyday, raw vegetables, fruit salad, and some home made cookies. No soft drinks. Milk, water, and ice tea.

Tuesday, lasagna. Wednesday, beef stew. Thursday, home made pizza, Friday, BQ hamburgers and hotdogs. 

The people that prep this food are all amazing. Most of the lunches are made fresh that day.  The servers were excellent with the kids. Excellent group.

[ModAdmin]

Well done.  Kids living in those circumstances need support.  Regardless of external funding this can't do anything but help.

[Pigskin]

Well it's been a great week. Homemade burgers today, excellent. But the chili lasagna on Tuesday was incredible  So many amazing people helping out.

[Pigskin]

Many school programs have shut down for the summer, this one is still alive and running well. The teachers have above and beyond to keep this alive. Our church volunteers have also been outstanding. There are also a few parents that have jumped in to help out.

[ModAdmin]

A reminder that the need is 12 months of the year, not just during school terms.

[Pigskin]

Very good day today. 18 kids for breakfast, but 26 for lunch. We even had a couple of adults, who came along with there children. Something the school might not allow when school goes back in September, but right now we have no problem feeding these hungry parents. I am really see a shift in what the children like to eat now. There not asking for chips, pop tarts, and high sugar granola bars anymore.

Right now many of our donations are either coming from people with gardens, or businesses in the area. So happy people are stepping up.

Later this month, with the help of a restaurant in the area we will be running a few classes for the parents in the area. Basically showing people how to put together inexpensive nutritional meals, and a way to stretch there dollars.

[Pigskin]

Well our summer program is nearly finished, and it has been a good summer. Lots of new volunteers. Also, a few new groups providing food and supply's. One of our big winners is almond, banana, cinnamon wraps. Banana, pumpkin, muffins are also very popular. Turkey, spinach, mozzarella burgers, are very popular with the kids.

[Jesse]

If you ever are looking for volunteers, make a post!

[Pigskin]

If you ever are looking for volunteers, make a post!

I will. A person would need a criminal background check, and a child abuse check. Both have to be with in the last 2 years.

[Pigskin]

First week of school in the books. About the same numbers as last year so far. Getting lots of fresh braking right now. Felt bad for one lady that made a couple of dishes at home, unfortunately they can not be served to the children.

[Pigskin]

We are now up over 40 kids for our breakfast program. We were able to raise enough money to buy two new stoves and four new microwaves, which has really helped with our growing numbers. Wow, have electrical permits jumped up in price.

[Pigskin]

Well our Bomber border is heading home on Saturday. He's been a regular at helping out when he has the time, and he's even went out and got himself a food handlers certificate. He's pretty popular with the kids, and he was a little emotional today talking about his last couple of days in Winnipeg before leaving for the winter. However, he did tell the kids he will be back next summer.

Our numbers have leveled off, and we have actually stocked piled enough food supplies to get us to the new year. Now we just need to keep the fresh vegetables and fruits coming in.

[Pigskin]

A group of grade 4 students are doing a waste management study. All of the volunteers and teachers are participating in this student. Probably the same study as the City of Winnipeg is doing. It's very nice to see the children getting involved.

This month we will be having a student bake off. This should be a lot of fun. Two student and one volunteer will compete as a team for the school title. We have 8 teams and the winner will be crowned on December 20th. The judges are a panel of two grade 6 students and one teacher.