From Jeannie Harnett – School District 42
Program Manager Community Connections and Healthy Living/Food Security:

“We are so grateful for this support. More and more families are finding it difficult to make it from one pay period to the next. These packs help families over the weekends, when our school food programs are not available for their children. Within the school day, we support breakfast, snack and lunch programs. We are finding it difficult to keep snack bins full, as kids are welcome to access throughout the day when ever they are hungry, removing stigma and shame. Chris and his crew are kind and flexible in their approach to support food security. Thank you to all who support the Food Bank on Wheels, making it possible for them to do the great work that they do, benefiting so many!”

.

After a few initial phone conversations and emails to see how we could help, on November 17, 2023 Food Bank on Wheels met with Jeannie Harnett of School District 42, who is coordinating with partner community agencies to fill hampers, take referrals and arrange deliveries to the school families.

We began with providing Weekend Food Packs and over Christmas during our ‘Share Your Christmas’ food drive, we stepped in to provide Christmas Food Hampers to families who were unable to register with the Christmas Bureau.
.

Below is a picture showing the average size of our 2023 Christmas Hampers.

Through 2024, we have been providing surplus foods for any Emergency Food Needs that come up as well as snacks for the In-School Snack Programs.

In addition to the snacks that come through the regular donations we receive, we are also teaming up with Caffe Delish and Cartems Donuts to give the kids some yummy and healthy snacks.
One of our main donors that has been making a huge difference with the School District’s needs is
Casa Del Pane Bakery & Deli in Port Moody.

From Jeannie Harnett – School District 42:
“We wanted to reach out and let you know what a difference the breads are making for our school food security programs! We are sharing our weekly donation out now with a couple of high schools and several of our elementary schools. They are so grateful each week! We have even been able to share with a few families through our Emergency Pantry Program.”

It’s truly amazing when local businesses join in to do what they can and help with feeding our communities and we can’t thank these two enough.

We are very excited to be working hand in hand with SD42 where we can have a direct impact on the children and families who live in the Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows communities.

We look forward to growing this awesome partnership in the days ahead. 🙂

See more about the SD42’s Food Security Programs here:
https://www.sd42.ca/sd42-security-programs/

Stop by Casa Del Pane in Port Moody at:
242 Newport Dr, Port Moody, BC V3H 5B9
Website: https://www.casadelpanebakery.ca/

Stop by Cartems in Coquitlam at:
91 Golden Dr #4, Coquitlam, BC V3K 6R2
Website: https://cartems.com/

Stop by Caffe Delish in Port Coquitlam at:
2180 Kelly Ave Unit #4110, Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 3B1
Website: https://delishglutenfree.com/caffe-delish/