A program that provides free breakfast to some students and groceries to some of their families at Central Okanagan schools is seeing a big spike in demand as high inflation continues to squeeze household finances. “We’ve seen a thirty-three percent increase in demand on our backpacking program and that’s put quite a strain on our pack days,” explains Chloe Kam, program lead for Food For Thought. While they have enough food to go around, what they need are more hands to fill lunch bags and grocery orders. “We meet every Monday from 8:30 to 11:30 and we need more volunteers as we are away. “Some travel for the winter. And just because of the significant increase in demand, we need more people to come out and support our programs so we can provide food to all the kids in the Okanagan who need it,” Kam said. She wants people to know how much food insecurity affects students and how important it is for those who have the time to go out and help if they can. School District 23 received a $2.4 million provincial grant from the Student and Family Affordability Fund this year, which allowed it to expand its Food For Thought breakfast and backpack programs. “Yeah, it’s definitely there, right? That inflation and just the cost of everything has gone up as a result of the last few years,” said Delta Carmichael, secretary-treasurer and chief financial officer of Central Okanagan Public School. “So we are doing everything we can with this funding to support these families. We leave it to our principals, who know our families best, to work with their assistant superintendents to make sure those families are supported,” she adds. Food For Thought is run by the charity Hope for the Nations.
