A Fundraising Campaign to feed the children of Parkdale and West Toronto Families in need.
In the city of Toronto, two in every five children go to school hungry each day. And every day, over 200 thousand students participate in Student Nutrition Programs at Schools across the city. With schools closed due to the pandemic, a lot of families are struggling to feed their children.
During quarantine, Settlement Programs have been listed as essential services in Canada. While schools are closed, CultureLink’s team of Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) is in regular contact with parents at home. They provide information about accessing benefits and offer support to kids learning from home. Most importantly, they help families access nutritious meals for their children throughout this crisis.
One can’t help but wonder though, are we doing enough? Is there anything else we can do to make things better? When asked what she wanted for her birthday, Lisa Randall, Manager of the SWIS Program, replied: “I want the children in Parkdale to have enough food to eat”. And so the idea was born.
Children can’t learn if they are hungry
We have teamed up with Roncesvalles Refugee Relief to help secure food for the children of families who have lost access to the Student Nutrition Programs, in Parkdale and the South West Toronto area. Our goal is to raise $5,000 to feed at least 100 children between April 29th and May 19th. Can you help? Please use the form below to make a donation, or tell your friends about our campaign.
UPDATE May 6, 2020
We reached our first goal! New target: $8,000 – another 60 grocery cards to help even more families.
Roncesvalles Refugee Relief (RRR) is a group of residents in the Roncesvalles neighbourhood. Moved by dangers and devastation faced by many families fleeing their homes and seeking asylum, they got together to find ways to help, and have so far sponsored 3 families (23 people altogether) to come to Canada. In 2015 they partnered with us to collect donations for our Distribution Centre, they organized a sewing machine drive and a bicycle drive and helped provide clothing and household goods for Syrian refugees.