THUNDER BAY — Family breakfast and snack packages will be delivered Friday to the families of children participating in school food programs around Thunder Bay.
School is cancelled, but the coordinating agency, Roots to Harvest, has partnered with the local school boards, the Red Cross, the District Social Services Board, the city's Youth Inclusion Program and the Indigenous Friendship Centre to help those who remain in need.
Spokesperson Erin Beagle says 330 packages were delivered last Friday, and a similar number will be provided this week.
Each contains enough breakfast and light snacks to last a week, including cereal, fruit, cheese, granola bars, peanut butter and muffins.
About 750 children participate in the food program when school is in session, but many families have more than one child enrolled.
Beagle said "We give them two packages. We're hoping we hit a bunch of them, but we know we won't reach all of them."
Pickup times and locations are as follows:
Friday, March 27
- Our Lady of Loretto Church, 290 Grenville Avenue – 1 to 3 p.m.
- Dew Drop Inn, 294 Red River Road – 2 to 3:30 p.m.
- Windsor Street Resource Centre, Unit 16, 288 Windsor Street – 1 to 3 p.m.
- Academy Resource Centre, 14 Trillium Way – 1 to 3 p.m.
- Limbrick Resource Centre, Unit 97K – 1 to 3 p.m.
- Evergreen Clubhouse, 139 Heron Street – 1 to 3 p.m.
- St. Patrick's Cathedral – 1 to 3 p.m.
- St. Agnes Church, 1019 Brown Street – 1 to 3 p.m.
Beagle said she hopes there's enough funding to run the program for 10 weeks, until new government supports for families are in place.
"This is so unexpected. People are losing jobs and being stressed in other ways, not being able to stock up. This is to relieve that stress for families experiencing it right now," she said.
