Port Alberni and Ucluelet parents struggling with lofty grocery bills can access free, nutritious lunches and snacks for their kids thanks to a recent partnership between Pacific Rim School District (SD70) and B.C. food charity Nourish Cowichan.
The School Meal Program, co-funded by the Ministry of Education and Child Care’s Feeding Futures funding, is available at all six elementary schools in Port Alberni, Alberni District Secondary School, Eighth Avenue Learning Centre, Ucluelet Elementary School and Ucluelet Secondary School for the 2024-2025 scholastic year.
To access the program, all parents need to do is get in touch with their school. The program also embraces an “open door policy” at every school, meaning if a child is hungry, they never get turned away.
“We are feeding the children with all the kindness and dignity we can,” said Fatima Da Silva, executive director and executive chef of Nourish Cowichan.
From soup and chili to wraps and casseroles, the partnership between SD70 and Nourish Cowichan aims to offer students the very best – at a time when food insecurity is on the rise. In comparison to last year, SD70 recorded a 30 per cent increase in the number of students accessing food programs in Port Alberni and Ucluelet.
“This is a game changer for us,” said Nick Seredick, principal of Port Alberni’s Eighth Avenue Learning Centre, a school of 140 students from kindergarten to Grade 12, plus adult learners.
“To have hot lunches every day of the week just enhances that opportunity for staff and students to connect with each other and build stronger bonds,” Seredick continued.
Founded in 2016 with a single school breakfast program, Nourish Cowichan now boasts a team of about 90 volunteers dedicated to providing nourishing meals to 1,800 children across 23 schools in the Cowichan Valley School District (SD79), all at no cost to the schools of SD79.
Port Alberni and Ucluelet’s new School Meal Program marks the first-time Nourish Cowichan is stepping out of their district boundaries to help another. SD70 serves about 4,000 students from across Port Alberni, Tofino, Ucluelet, Bamfield and other remote communities.
“This is the community speaking. This is the community coming together and supporting their kids without question,” said Rod Allen, Nourish Cowichan’s board president. “I think that’s why Nourish does so well in Cowichan Valley and why I believe in my heart of hearts it’s going to do great here because it’s the community speaking.”
“It’s truly an honour to be chosen as part of your journey,” Da Silva adds. “We just have to put the dream out there and people will do it. They come and do the work.”
SD70’s Healthy Schools Manager Kirsten Nesbitt says the partnership with Nourish Cowichan, together with the longstanding partnerships with providers in Bamfield and the Wickaninnish Community School in Tofino, ensures that every child can learn and thrive with equitable access to nutritious meals.
“Initiatives like these greatly enhance our ability to provide consistent healthy meals to all students, easing the burdens that many families face. However, the increasing need is urgent and the current funding available for food programs does not fully meet this demand,” said Nesbitt.
She extended an invitation to local businesses to help sustain and grow the School Meal Program, whether it be with a donation or volunteering.
“Every contribution of $1,000 feeds a student for an entire school year, ensuring that they have the nourishment they need to succeed,” Nesbitt continued.
While the central kitchen and hub for the School Meal Program at E.J. Dunn Elementary School in Port Alberni is under renovation until around the end of November, the team has found ways to start serving lunches to schools from mid-September.
“Sandwiches and salads were available right away. Slowly as the kitchen gets running more hot meals can be done. Chef Ryan Pike is pushing the boundaries. He is ready to cook hot meals,” said Da Silva, who was born and raised in Mozambique, Africa and has been living on Vancouver Island for the past 24 years.
Pam Craig, chair of SD70’s Board of Education, acknowledged that they work alongside all the Nuu-chah-nulth Nations as well as the Métis Nation of B.C. to serve the youth of the Alberni-Clayoquot region.
“The support we receive daily from our Indigenous partners is something we can never take for granted. This district strives to increase awareness, understanding and integration of Nuu-chah-nulth culture, history and language in all Pacific Rim Schools as part of our commitment to Truth and Reconciliation,” said Craig.
“Our vision is to provide equitable, healthy and nutritional meals to every student, regardless of family income. And we know that access to balanced meals should be not a privilege but rather a necessity,” she said.
While independent from the SD70, Maaqtusiis Secondary School in Ahousaht on Flores Island - a 40-minute boat ride from Tofino - also has a breakfast and snack program for their students.
In April 2024, the federal government pledged $1 billion over five years to implement a National School Food Program in collaboration with provinces and territories and Indigenous communities.
“We see promising discussions at the federal level with the announcement of the National School Food Program and believe this has the potential to be a great complement to the Feeding Futures School Meal Program,” said Nesbitt.
Information about volunteering or how to donate to Port Alberni and Ucluelet’s new School Meal Program is available at https://nourishcowichan.ca/
