Food for Kids Has a Birthday Party for Canada’s 150th
Written by admin, June 13, 2017
June 13 – Good Food is Fun and Healthy at Queen Elizabeth Public School
It’s no secret that kids love to play with food! This morning, students at the Queen Elizabeth Public School Breakfast Program made and ate Canada flags for breakfast, using fresh produce and local cheese. Students sang “Happy Birthday Dear Canada!”, coloured flags, and signed a giant birthday card for Canada.
“Today’s event is about celebrating Canada, and the healthy Canadian food that feeds students at our breakfast program each school day,” said Julie Hoit, Principal at Queen Elizabeth Public School. “Vegetables, fruit, and other nutritious foods served at our student nutrition program help students come to class ready to learn. School food boxes like today’s, are one way that healthy food gets to our students.”
Queen Elizabeth wasn’t the only school celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday. Student nutrition programs at 47 schools across the city and county received school food boxes this week filled with fresh red and white ingredients.
“This is the seventeenth time this year that schools have received food boxes for breakfast and snack programs,” said Angela Fuchs, Community Development Coordinator with Food for Kids Peterborough. “Contributions from grants, local businesses, and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services help make these food boxes possible. This particular festive box was funded by the Community Fund for Canada’s 150th birthday.”
Making food fun is important to Nancy Calder, the coordinator at the Queen Elizabeth Student Nutrition Program. “I love seeing kids try healthy foods they have never tried before,” said Calder. “I find that involving children in preparing food at breakfast and snack programs is a great way to help them gain independence and life skills. Kids also seem to be more willing to try new vegetables and fruit when they help prepare them!”
This school food box initiative is made possible by generous community donations to Food for Kids, including contributions from the United Way, Kawartha Credit Union, the Ministry of Child and Youth Services, and the Community Fund for Canada’s 150th, a collaboration between the Community Foundation of Greater Peterborough, Community Foundations of Canada, the government of Canada, and extraordinary leaders from coast to coast to coast.
If you are interested in volunteering at a breakfast program near you, or making a donation, visit www.FoodforKidsPtbo.ca or call 705-743-1000, ext. 233.
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For further information, please contact:
Lauren Kennedy, RD
Public Health Nutritionist
705-743-1000, ext. 233