As kids head back to class for another year, Vancouver Firefighter Charities (VFC) is likewise gearing up to combat food insecurity by providing healthy, nutritious food to at-risk students across Vancouver through its Snacks For Kids program.
Celebrating its 11th year, Snacks For Kids provides nutritional support in the form of non-perishable snacks, fresh food and take-home groceries to more than 6,000 food-insecure youth in 68 elementary and secondary schools and after-school programs around Vancouver.
Founded in partnership with the Vancouver School Board in 2013, Snacks For Kids is one of four pillars in a VFC charitable outreach platform that also includes Toys For Kids, Sports For Kids and Lifelines For Seniors. All four programs are supported entirely through firefighter payroll donations and community and corporate donations as well as fundraising events hosted by the VFC throughout the year.
Snacks For Kids Program Coordinator John Ragone knows firsthand the difference that sustenance in the form of healthy snacks can provide to at-risk kids in schools and the positive impact it can have on learning. Prior to his firefighting career, Ragone was a student services teacher who worked with vulnerable youth in the Vancouver school system and saw how food helped teachers connect with vulnerable students.
“Snacks really made a huge difference in getting these at-risk students into class,” says Ragone. “A lot of our most vulnerable youth in Vancouver don’t have regular access to healthy food and often go to school hungry, and Snacks for Kids works with the VSB and our network of partners to provide food-insecure kids with nutritious snacks to give them energy for learning and equip teachers with a tool to create inviting and safe learning environments for their students.”
That network of partners includes Vancouver-based businesses such as FreshPoint Produce Distributors, FreeYumm Foods Ltd., Jas and Andy Bates, McDonalds Franchisees and Glowbal Restaurant Group, the latter of which collaborates with the VFC on a School Meals For Kidsprogram that helped provide more than 9,000 meals to more than 1,500 secondary schools across the city last year.
In preparation for this latest back-to-school season, VFC has spent $60,000 on more than 3,500 boxes of healthy snacks that include vegetable sticks, Kashi quinoa Bars, Oberto beef jerky, FreeYumm and Made Good bars.
“All of this is just to get teachers and their classrooms stocked for the beginning of the school year,” says VFC Executive Director Eric Himmelman. “We expect to spend more throughout the year to keep these schools and programs stocked so at-risk kids can have access to good calories throughout the school year.”
Himmelman, who previously held the role of Program Coordinator at Snacks For Kids, was appointed VFC Executive Director earlier this summer. He was joined on the executive by long-time VFC volunteers Matt Ostafiew (Chief of Staff), Brandon Davies (Director of Fundraising) and Brandon Kaye (Director of Programming).
To learn more about the VFC’s fundraising events and initiatives that benefit the community at large, go to vancouverfirefighters.ca.
