Food for Kids City of Kawartha Lakes


Food for Kids City of Kawartha Lakes works to ensure that every child attends school with a full stomach, ready to learn. School nutrition programs work, as demonstrated by:

  • Improved behaviour of students
  • Better social skills
  • Less absenteeism
  • More focus and improved attention
  • Increased self-esteem, and
  • Improved sense of community

Food for Kids serves over 10,000 children in the City of Kawartha Lakes, with breakfast, snack and lunch programs offered at schools in the Trillium Lakelands District Public School Board and the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Roman Catholic District School Board.

Our programs enjoy the support of more than 250 volunteers per year. Last year these dedicated people contributed countless hours, helping to raise funds, plan, prepare and serve over 170,000 breakfasts, 250,000 snacks and 120,000 lunches to students in the City of Kawartha Lakes. Volunteers enjoy a volunteer appreciation event each year. Our participating schools are listed below.

In addition to our many individual volunteers, Food for Kids City of Kawartha Lakes works closely with Community Partners including:


Our corporate donors and sponsors include:


To donate to Food for Kids City of Kawartha Lakes, please visit our How to Get Involved section.


Grant Keeps Food on Table


A $17,000 grant will help provide healthy fresh fruit to local children as part of their school breakfast and snack programs, says Kawartha Lakes Food Source. The grant was given by the Lindsay Legacy CHEST (Community Hydro Electric System Transfer) fund.

Read the article


REVVED UP FOR A GOOD CAUSE

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

 

Full Throttle Motor Company Honoured For Its Support of Local Student Nutrition Programs

 

(CITY OF KAWARTHA LAKES) A local business is kicking its financial support into high gear to ensure students do not run on empty in school. Full Throttle Motor Company, based in Fenelon Falls, has donated more than $3,500 to support student nutrition programs at two local schools. The money comes from a fundraising motorcycle rodeo and roast organized last fall by Bob Edwardson, Rick Gibson, Mel Lavalley, Vanessa Gibson and their many dedicated friends and volunteers. The second annual rodeo and roast was held at the Stone Fountain Motel in Rosedale and included local bands, a 'show and shine' event, silent auction, beef roast and door prizes.

 

Plans are already underway to organize a third annual rodeo and roast this coming September, with the proceeds also going to local student nutrition programs. Organizers hope to expand the event to help more schools. Support from the local business community keeps the costs down and allows more funds to go to schools.

 

Half of the approximate $3,500 raised from last fall's event will go to support the nutrition program at Langton Public School in Fenelon Falls, while the other half will help offset the costs of running the nutrition program at Ridgewood Public School in Coboconk. Ridgewood and Langton are among 32 schools in the City of Kawartha Lakes that provide nutrition programs to ensure students have enough to eat to learn on a full stomach, says Jen Armitage, coordinator of Food For Kids City of Kawartha Lakes

 

"The generous donation from Full Throttle Motor Company really helps to provide nutritious food for students so they have the fuel they need to learn and succeed in school," says Armitage. "It is another great example of how the community can work together to ensure local students are well fed and ready to learn."

 

Food for Kids is a community partnership that supports all local student nutrition programs. Currently, these programs serve more than 10,000 students in the City of Kawartha Lakes with breakfast, snack and lunch programs. These programs are free for students, and participation is voluntary. Food for Kids includes representatives of the Trillium Lakelands District School Board, Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board, the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit, Boys and Girls Club of Kawartha Lakes and concerned residents. While Ontario's Ministry of Children and Youth Services provides base funding for school nutrition programs in this area, Food for Kids must also raise additional financial assistance. That is where financial support from businesses such as Full Throttle can help offset costs, says Armitage.

 

To find out how to support Food For Kids, or to volunteer at a local school nutrition program, call (705)750-1043, e-mail jenniearmitage@gmail.com or visit www.studentnutritionprogram.ca


Group lauds volunteers

 

KAWARTHA LAKES - Add it all up and the work of volunteers who assist with student nutrition programs in the City of Kawartha Lakes is beyond measure, according to officials with Food for Kids, the non-profit group that coordinates city nutrition programs.


Food for Kids recognized its volunteers and community supporters by holding an appreciation dinner on Apr. 27.


One of the groups honoured at the appreciation event was the Ontario Trillium Foundation, organizers said. Food For Kids has received a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to hire a volunteer recruitment and fundraising coordinator who will provide extra help to schools in running sustainable and successful nutrition programs, while also recruiting new volunteers.


"We are really appreciative and excited about the grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, as it will greatly help in the recruitment of new volunteers, fundraising opportunities and increasing community support," Jen Armitage, the community coordinator with Food For Kids, stated in a press release.


More than 400 volunteers currently donate countless hours of their time each school year to support the 44 nutrition programs in the municipality.


The volunteers prepare and serve food, promote the nutrition programs, help with fundraising, keep track of records and do much more, officials said.


Locally, nutrition programs are free and voluntary, with some including a full sit-down breakfast before class and others featuring snack bins delivered to classrooms from which students can choose something to eat, officials said.


Nutrition programs provide food to more than 10,000 local students every day in public and Catholic schools, ensuring students can learn and concentrate in class without the distraction of an empty stomach, officials said.


Students come to school hungry for many reasons, not just poverty. Long bus rides to school, early morning practices, and hurried morning routines can all be factors.


"Volunteers are the lifeblood for student nutrition programs in Kawartha Lakes," Armitage said. "Our volunteers make a world of difference because they help ensure local students have enough to eat so they can succeed in their learning."


But new volunteers are always needed, so anyone interested in helping out can contact a school in their area, officials said.

More information about Food for Kids is also available at www.foodforkidsckl.ca or by calling 705-750-1043.


Participating Schools:


Elementary Schools:

  • Alexandra Public School
  • Bobcaygeon Public School
  • Central Senior School
  • Dr. George Hall Public School
  • Dunsford Elementary School
  • Fenelon Township Public School
  • Grandview Public School
  • Jack Callaghan Public School
  • King Albert Public School
  • Lady Eaton Public School
  • Lady Mackenzie Public School
  • Langton Public School
  • Leslie Frost Public School
  • Mariposa Elementary School
  • Parkview Public School
  • Pope John Paul II Catholic School
  • Queen Victoria Public School
  • Ridgewood Public School
  • Rolling Hills Public School
  • Scott Young Public School
  • St. Dominic School
  • St. John's Kirkfield
  • St. Luke's School
  • St. Mary's School
  • Woodville Public School

Secondary Schools:

  • Fenelon Falls Secondary School
  • I.E. Weldon Secondary School
  • Lindsay Civic and Vocational Institute
  • St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School

Adult Education Centres:

  • Fenelon Adult Education Centre
  • Lindsay Adult Education and Training Centre

Community Children's Organizations:

  • City of Kawartha Lakes Boys' & Girls' Club

For more information on the programs and activities of Food for Kids City of Kawartha Lakes, see our website at: www.foodforkidsckl.ca

 or contact:

Jennie Armitage
Coordinator
Food for Kids City of Kawartha Lakes
Tel: 705-750-1043
Fax: 705-750-0434
Email: Jennie Armitage

History of Food for Kids City of Kawartha Lakes:

In 1999, a group of concerned agencies addressed the issue of children attending school too hungry to learn. Proactive and united action followed with an application for a grant to the Breakfast for Learning (BFL), Canadian Living Foundation (CLF) to begin a Community Partnership Program in Haliburton and Victoria Counties. Through the generous support of CLF and local partnerships with the Trillium Lakelands School Board and the Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit, Train the Brain Include the Food was initiated. In 2006, the Community Partnership Program name was changed to Food for Kids City of Kawartha Lakes.