It will be a little easier to feed hungry students at a Bradford West Gwillimbury school next year thanks to a grant program aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles.
Fred C. Cook Public School was awarded $1,000 before the end of this school year by the Metro Green Apple School Program.
With the money, it purchased a quality blender and put the rest toward the school’s breakfast and snack programs.
“It allows us to further enhance what we’re offering on our menu. It’s important because we feed a lot of our students at our school,” said Madeleine Temmer, the school’s principal.
“$1,000 to a school is a lot of money. It goes quite a long way.”
The school’s breakfast program, which began four years ago, serves 40 to 60 students every day, she said.
Volunteer teachers, students and community members operate the program, which runs on donations and fundraising.
Students who are dropped off at school extra early or whose parents cannot provide much breakfast for them at home often partake in the program, Temmer said.
The menu varies every day and includes items such as fresh and frozen fruit, cereal, cut-up apples, cheese cubes — and now, with the purchase of the blender, smoothies.
Temmer said she notices a difference in the students’ energy levels when they are able to get a solid breakfast each morning.
“Students definitely need some nutrition to power their minds and their bodies,” she said.
The Metro Green Apple School Program has been running for six years, and it has previously awarded five other BWG schools $1,000 each for their own healthy-eating initiatives.
This year, it gave $1,000 each to 500 schools around the province.
The program is aimed at encouraging Ontario students to incorporate more fruit and vegetables into their daily meals and snack routines through school projects.
Some of the programs that have benefitted from the grants include breakfast clubs, school gardens, nutrition counselling sessions, cooking workshops, and cookbooks.
It was Susie Golzlin, a member of Fred C. Cook’s school council, who applied for the grant, said Temmer, who urged other schools to take advantage of the program.
“Don’t hesitate. It’s a very simple process to apply,” she said.
For more information, visit greenapple.metro.ca.
