Georgia Avenue Community School is asking The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School program for $10,000 to feed, clothe and provide necessities for students and families who will otherwise go without.
NANAIMO — “This morning I had a student who came to school just shivering because it was really cold and he was in what was obviously a woman’s raincoat that had been donated to the family.”
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That’s Shauna Coey, principal of Georgia Avenue Community School in the south side of town, describing how her day began Tuesday.
Feeding, clothing and caring for students from the ages of five to 13 in this school of almost 400 — many of them impoverished — is a constant concern and occupation for Coey and her staff.
The school is in an area of low-income housing, and the needs of its families have outstripped the school’s resources to help them.
Ideally, Coey, who has been at the school for three years, would like to have bought the boy a new coat, but the government’s affordability funds which were once available for such purposes have dried up.
“So we got him a nice Columbia ski jacket that had probably been worn by two or three other kids. Hopefully he can feel a bit warmer,” said Coey.
Post-COVID affordability grants also allowed schools to purchase grocery gift cards for families in need.
“That was huge. It took a load off so many families,” she said. “It was lovely for me because I was able to go out and purchase baby formula and deliver it to a family that needed it. But we don’t have that anymore.”
Inner-city schools like this have problems those in affluent areas won’t experience.
On Monday, a school in the wealthier north end of town offered their unclaimed lost and found items of clothing that Coey was glad to receive.
They stripped their original owners’ names out of the items then made them available to their own students.
Providing new clothes is a problem.
“Yesterday, I got a text from a mom saying her daughter has grown and is there any chance we have pants or underwear. When we had an affordability grant, I could just go to Walmart and purchase brand new underwear and socks and gloves.
“Our PAC has offered me a few hundred dollars this year, so I was able to buy a bit of socks and undies, but beyond that … well, there’s definitely a big need.”
The school is asking The Vancouver Sun’s Adopt-A-School program for $10,000 to feed, clothe and provide necessities for students and families who will otherwise go without.
Georgia Avenue Community School receives a delivered lunch as part of the provincial government’s Feeding Futures program that was inaugurated last year — the first program designated to feed hungry children at school.
But Coey said the school needs Adopt-A-School to help feed these children breakfast and add to what they get for lunch, as well as ensure they have food to take home for the evening and weekends.
“They might have an apple and a wrap for lunch, but some definitely need more, especially if they are coming to school and the lunch and snack they get from our fridge is the only meal they are having that day. We need to top things up for them,” she said.
“We have kids who will walk right in and say, ‘All I’ve got to eat at home is this.’ So at the end of the day we’ll send them home with some groceries.”
Some families are comfortable enough with us to say, ‘We have no food right now’, or ‘All we have is milk and butter, is there any way you can get us a few more staples?’
“Some impoverished parents will come in and share breakfast after dropping off their children.
Teachers across the province have told The Sun that many families that were once able to provide for themselves are now finding that after paying rent and other costs they have difficulty affording sufficient food.
Coey said they also need to buy food for cooking lessons they give to students who are going home and have to provide for themselves.
“Their parents might not be home and the kids are home alone. We show them how to cook and will send them home with recipes and ingredients so they can cook themselves a meal.”
This year the Vancouver Sun Children’s Fund board which administers Adopt-A-School has received $2.9 million in requests from schools and organizations, the majority of which are for food, clothing and other essentials to help impoverished children and families.
How to donate
2. PHONE: To pay by credit card, call 604-813-8673.