Manitoba Harvest's Meals2Go expansion is now feeding 100s of students in Brandon

A new food program in Brandon is taking the first steps in helping ensure food-insecure students are not studying hungry over the weekend by giving them nutritious snacks.

Harvest Manitoba made its first delivery of abut 600 Meals2Go to students at Brandon's Betty Gibson and King George schools on Thursday. The weekend breakfast program started in Winnipeg and recently expanded to Brandon and Opaskwayak Cree Nation.

It's currently feeding 5,000 students each week in 15 schools.

King George Grade 8 student Dominic Reyes has friends who come to school hungry, he says. He's grateful they'll get snacks from Meals2Go and has been counting down to the first delivery.

"Some people … don't have any snacks for the whole day," Reyes said. "It's sad to see."

Reyes was one of about a dozen Grade 7 and 8 students who volunteered to unload the first Meals2Go delivery at King George School. He helped bring in a palette of lunch kits containing fresh dairy, fruit and veggies, along with cereals, granola bars and other treats.

King George School principal Robert Dinsdale says high food prices are hurting students and their families. He's heard from parents who are feeling the extreme costs of a bag of groceries.

"There's a lot of families that food insecurity is a real concern," he said. "We know that well-fed students are better set up to learn."

He says the consistency and security of food from Meals2Go will give students and their families peace of mind because every weekend they'll know they're getting healthy food to bring home.

Grade 8 student Erick Cerquera says while carrying in the boxes of food was heavy work, he was excited to see everyone working together to get his friends fed.

"I wanted to be in it and help because it feels … good. It's a good thing for all of us," Cerquera said. "There was a lot of good stuff and it was helping kids that didn't have breakfast."

Cerquera says his friends who don't always have food when they're hungry were all looking forward to to the first Meals2Go delivery.

Mika Peterson, Harvest Manitoba's director of community Ppograms, says each snack bag costs about $6. The bags are packed by volunteers in Winnipeg and then sent to Brandon.

Peterson hopes Harvest Manitoba can expand the program to more schools as soon as possible.

"If there's hungry kids, we want to meet that need as quickly and as efficiently as we can," Peterson said.

Demand on the rise

Manitoba Harvest was able to expand into Brandon due to recent funding from donors and the provincial government, Peterson said. They want to expand to serve the entire province — including in northern Manitoba — because they know families are struggling with rising food costs.

"Times are a little bit tricky right now and things are expensive, and there's a lot of different reasons that families [are in] need," Peterson said. "We can help get families the food that they need and … ultimately the kids."

Manitoba Harvest has seen steadily increasing number of families needing help to cover food costs. In Brandon, Samaritan House Ministries Food Bank provided hampers to 3,332 households in 2024 — including 1,388 children.

Dinsdale says a lot of his students have experienced food insecurity. Seeing the community step up to support them is really meaningful because it shows people want to help.

John Zilkey, Brandon School Division superintendent for curriculum and HR, says Betty Gibson and King George were selected for Meals2Go because students at those schools would benefit the most from the program.

He says funding has been secured for this year, and the program is a continual program. His hope is to see the program expand to the other schools in the division soon.

For now, Cerquera says he appreciates that people are willing to step up and help hungry kids.

"That's a lot of money for you to use on us, which is very nice because you're going out of your way for us," he said, adding he's exciting for his first Meal2Go. "I'm gonna eat it at home as a little snack, a treat for me."