Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., program works to offer meals to students during the summer

School's out for summer but some groups in northeastern Ontario are still working to make sure children have access to healthy food.

During the school year, programs are offered through the province's student nutrition program to provide students with healthy meals and snacks. But there can be a gap in the summer when classes are not in session.

In Sault Ste. Marie, Harvest Algoma came up with the idea to try and get food out in the community during the summer months.

"So essentially it's to fill a gap," Lauren Moran, the community enterprise manager said.

"A lot of these kids being from a lower income situation would be relying on nutrition programs that they would have access to at the school during the year."

Moran said the need has grown in recent years. In 2023, she said more than 7,000 lunches were prepared and handed out. This year, they're planning to give out almost 10,000 meals.

"This year is essentially the largest number that we've served so far," she said.

"It's unfortunate that we know it's a need, it's a growing need. We've seen food bank usage rising. So we know that food insecurity is essentially a very real challenge that a lot of families in our community are facing."

To help feed that need, volunteers pack lunches containing a variety of food, including a sandwich, produce, milk or a juice box and a cookie. The meals are dropped off at programs throughout the city, including the Kids Being Kids program, which is like a summer camp program offered to different income levels in the community.

"Then there's a couple of spots where we drop them off through town and those are like first come, first serve drop in basis," Moran said.

"We have a public library location. So those get dropped off at the library and anybody who needs a lunch for their child can drop in and grab one of those."

Moran recalls one summer where she dropped off a box of lunches at the library.

"I went around, kind of told a couple of people about it and just sat back and watched the folks take advantage of that," she said.

"I mean, as a mother myself, I know that if I were in that kind of financial situation and there was even a small bit of relief that would be a welcome thing."

Helping to offer programs

Sault Ste. Marie is one of the few areas in the region offering such a program.

In North Bay, the student nutrition program is offered by Community Living North Bay. During the school year, 100 schools take part with 24,000 students enrolled. During the summer, 11 schools receive funding to help feed about 300 students.

Marianne Raymond is the director of communications and marketing for Community Living North Bay.

"We offer the funding directly to the schools and we have community development co-ordinators that support each school and their specific program," she said.

"The scope of our program really is to support those schools to make sure that those programs are running effectively."

In Sudbury, Better Beginnings, Better Futures operates the student nutrition program during the school year. The organization received some one-time funding during the pandemic to offer summer meals, but hasn't done so in recent years.

The Red Cross runs student nutrition programs in Timmins and Temiskaming Shores but says no summer program is offered.