Each day, staff prepare and provide as many as 270 grab-and-go breakfasts for students of Lord Strathcona Elementary.
It’s 8:30 a.m. and some of the children coming into the Strathcona Community Centre for breakfast are tired, some are chirpy, but they are all hungry.
They enter up a flight of stairs at the back of the centre and waiting for them are Bonnie Jarvis, who runs the breakfast program, and longtime breakfast volunteer Vuong My.
Not only students come up those stairs. There are teachers and support workers, too, from the adjoining Lord Strathcona Elementary School, carrying large bags filled with today’s meal — three different kinds of cereal, cartons of milk, bananas and boiled eggs.
They will take this food back to the school for their students to eat before classes begin.
Each day, staff here prepare and provide as many as 270 grab-and-go breakfasts for Strathcona students.
There are plenty of needy communities in this province, but then there is Strathcona. The proverbial most needy of all in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
“This breakfast program is very important for the community,” said Amy Weeks, the food security manager for the centre. “It’s grab-and-go breakfast because we don’t know who really needs a breakfast, so this de-stigmatizes it.”
A communal breakfast was once served inside the community centre for parents and children, but that model was abandoned when the province ordered schools closed and people to isolate during the COVID pandemic.
“This breakfast is essential for supporting the health and well-being of our students,” said Weeks.
Half of the families living in the area are considered low-income, many living in two large social housing complexes nearby.
Strathcona has the highest rate of child poverty in the city. Those families not in subsidized housing struggle with the financial instability caused by the rising cost of housing and food, said Weeks.
Many families rely on income assistance, disability benefits, or low-paying jobs.
“For many students, hunger is a significant and daily challenge,” she said.
She estimated that 60 per cent of the school’s 500 students could be classified as vulnerable because of poverty.
“The vulnerable student population we serve face a variety of interconnected challenges beyond hunger, ” she explained.
“Many children come from single-parent households, or are being raised by grandparents or other extended family members, or are new to Canada and still adjusting to the language. … Breakfast is a stabilizing anchor for these students. It’s where they are cared for and valued.”
The community centre is asking The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School campaign for $35,000 to feed these children each morning.
From September to November, a total of 13,726 breakfasts have been served.
The menu varies each day and students from the school will come in and help prepare the next day’s meal as part of the centre’s Breakfast Buddies program.
The average cost of a breakfast is $3 and a variety of items are offered on different days, such as banana muffins, pancakes, french toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, hash browns, egg bites, yogurt cups and fruit, as well as cereal and milk.
First grade teacher Lourdes Friess was there filling a large shopping bag with cereal, milk, eggs and bananas.
“This will keep my class going all day,” she said.
There was enough in her bag to provide breakfast for her class and for snacks later in the day after lunch.
“It’s really important for them,” she said.
The Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund which administers Adopt-A-School is being asked for $2.9 million to support hundreds of schools in the province. Almost $2.2 million is being sought for food and clothing for hungry and impoverished children.
All donations made to Adopt-A-School will be sent to schools. No administration fees are deducted from donations.
How to donate
2. PHONE: To pay by credit card, call 604-813-8673.