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Alberni breakfast programs feed community’s hungry children

The breakfast programs are co-finalists for Pot Luck Ceramics grant; vote until Nov. 10
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Volunteers set up breakfast at one of the local elementary schools for the morning Read and Feed program. SUBMITTED PHOTO

When Helma Swinkels and the rest of the Port Alberni Fundraising Co-op board set out to find a new way to contribute to the community, they thought their idea to give away $10,000 would be fairly simple. After all, there are many organizations providing quality of life programs in the Alberni Valley.

The task of choosing four finalists was not so easy. And in the end, two organizations are sharing one finalist spot.

Two organizations—the Alberni District Secondary School Breakfast Club and Alberni Valley NeighbourLink Society’s elementary school Read and Feed—have similar programs. They both provide breakfast to students in local schools, and they’re both worthy programs, Swinkels said.

“Breakfast is breakfast and kids are kids. It’s two organizations doing the same thing for different children,” she said. The decision was made with the organizations’ blessings to combine both applications: if these co-finalists win, they will each receive $5,000.

The other three finalists are: Bread of Life; AV Hospice Society and Alberni Drug and Alcohol Prevention Services (ADAPS).

This year marks the 10th anniversary for the ADSS Breakfast Club. The high school has more than 1,100 students from Grade 8–12 and many live below the poverty level. The breakfast club is volunteer-run and uses donations to purchase food such as bagels, jam, peanut butter, margarine, cream cheese, honey, fruit, yogurt, granola bars and more.

Food bins are filled with provisions and sent to 23 classrooms so students may access food easily throughout the day, five days a week. Tables are also set up during exam weeks twice a year for hungry students.

In 2017, more than 400 students accessed the Breakfast Club on a daily basis.

READ MORE: Pot Luck Ceramics launches new way of giving

READ MORE: Alberni co-op chooses four finalists for $10K donation

The need is just as great in Port Alberni’s elementary schools. The NeighbourLink Read and Feed program provides health breakfasts to students in five elementary schools (Alberni, Maquinna, AW Neill, Wood and John Howitt) as well as some nurturing and reading aloud from volunteers during breakfast.

In the 2017-18 school year, 120 volunteers served a total of 27,405 breakfasts for a total of 3,362 volunteer hours. Read and Feed was expanded to John Howitt last year, and this year EJ Dunn has requested the program for their school, as funds allow.

Read and Feed has been in local elementary schools for 11 years.

The Alberni Valley News will be profiling the finalists up until the last day of voting, which is Saturday, Nov. 10. The first profile, on Ty Watson House, ran in our Oct. 24 print edition.

Co-op members will make the final decision and a winner will be announced at a celebration at Pot Luck Ceramics on Nov. 24. Voting takes place at Pot Luck Ceramics’ cottage, 4473 Gertrude St.

editor@albernivalleynews.com



Susie Quinn

About the Author: Susie Quinn

A journalist since 1987, I proudly serve as the Alberni Valley News editor.
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