The Food and Friends breakfast program run by the The Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington is helping thousands of area students thrive, one belly at a time.
The program offers free breakfasts to 17,000 students at 106 schools in Guelph, Wellington County and Dufferin County. Of those, 49 are in Guelph.
“I am a big believer of having a healthy breakfast in the morning to help out with academics and health routines,” said Joanne Sealey, who runs the Food and Friends program at John F. Ross high school.
“In an hour we serve 200 or 300 students every morning,” Sealey said.
Friday there was an awareness event for the program at Ross, with volunteers on hand to serve pancakes, fruit, yogurt, muffins, juice and other breakfast items.
It was part of the foundation’s Help Kids Live Free From Hunger Campaign that helps fund Food and Friends.
Aidan ‘A.J.’ Jones, a Grade 10 student at Ross, said he is living proof of how the program benefits students.
“I personally know both sides of what happens at ‘Wake Up and Chow Down,’” Jones said of the Ross breakfast program.
“One being me not having the breakfast that I need on a day when it isn’t running and not being able to excel as much as I’d like to in class. But then I also know how I can reap the rewards,” he said.
“In the morning I live a busy life and I don’t always have time for breakfast... Wake Up and Chow Down is really one of my saving graces in that regard.”
Food and Friends is just one of the programs offered through the foundation aimed at supporting the “whole child,” by building foundations for success, said Food and Friends program director Anita Macfarlane.
The programs vary in how they are delivered from school to school.
At Ross there is a full breakfast offering two days a week and grab-and-go food items on other days.
Having a good breakfast to start your morning is important for a student's health and their ability to learn.
“There’s all sorts of research that shows kids who are hungry don’t learn well,” said Guelph MPP Liz Sandals.
There are other benefits too.
“You bring the community together,” Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield told those at Friday's event.
