Regina Public Schools, food bank partner to tackle food insecurity among students

Regina Public Schools and the Regina Food Bank have teamed up to expand student nutrition programs. Damian Smith has more.

With a new partnership between Regina Public Schools and the Regina Food Bank, students can expect more food variety at their schools.

Federal and provincial funding, totalling $320,000, will go towards nutrition programs for students from pre-kindergarten to Grade 8.

Resources for each school will vary depending on needs. At the school which hosted the announcement, the Seven Stones School, the food bank says it will deliver food three times a week. As a city-wide strategy, it’ll continue to look to purchase in bulk.

“The biggest change will be how much food we’re actually processing in-house and turning into prepared meals and composed snacks,” said John Bailey, the CEO of the Regina Food Bank. “So that’ll be the real increase in our sort of production and operations.”

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According to Bailey, 42 per cent of food bank recipients are under the age of 18.

The partnership, which officially started on Jan. 13, will take a weight off the shoulders of teachers as well. The board wants teachers to solely focus on the education part of their job.

“Educational assistants and teachers who are in various circumstances, have had to prepare meals, have had to go to stores with coupons, looking to find deals on food,” said Mark Harmaan, the CEO and director of Regina Public Schools. “That lets our staff focus on their work, which is obviously preparing lessons or teaching kids. Most importantly, it gives nutritious food. Kids want to eat, and it’s a chance to get that roadblock of hunger out of the way and focus on learning, which is their job.”

For principal of Seven Stones School, Jason Janssen is extremely happy with the process, and how it will help his 257 students

“If anything, it’s alleviating us having to go grocery shopping, purchase all of the food and whatnot. So it’s a great opportunity, as it continues to grow,” he said.

As a former refugee, Regina board of education trustee Ted Jaleta knows how hard it can be to learn on an empty stomach.

“I experienced hunger, especially when I was in a refugee camp. I grew up in desolation and poverty. I know what it actually feels like to go to school without food.”

When Jaleta arrived in Canada, he said the lack of food didn’t stop there. He said for years that he had rice for all three meals just to survive.

He notes that that number is too high, especially for those who have seen food insecurity climb in Regina for over half a decade.

Jaleta was emotional, wiping back tears.

“It’s so sad in the country where this one is the richest countries, with the amount of food we grow, this shouldn’t be happening,”

Currently, the partnership is in phase one of three, delivering to seven schools so far.

Those schools so far are: Arcola, Connaught, Dr. George Ferguson, Glen Elm, Kitchener, Seven Stones and Thomson schools.

The second phase will begin on February 2nd, adding five schools. Phase three will start in early March, with seven additional schools. The nutrition program will benefit about 19,000 students in 19 schools when fully operational.