‘My kids are going to school tomorrow.’ What a loaded statement that is in 2020! A year ago, you would have read that to yourself and thought something like this: “That’s nice. Why are you telling me?” After all, that’s a totally normal thing for kids to do. But this school year will be anything but normal. Parents are having to make really tough school related choices. My kids are high school aged. I decided that living in a semi-rural area was a low risk, so I registered them for in-person learning. Even then, that choice came with so much confusion, I needed to make our own spreadsheet to track their schedules. The uncertainty and complexities are seemingly endless.
But despite all of that frustration and confusion, I am still so incredibly grateful that we live in Canada! I’m grateful that they can go to school (even if it’s complicated and different). And I’m happy I can afford to send my kids to school with all the supplies they need to be successful, including a packed lunch.
Food is such a vital part of our day, isn’t it? Have you ever experienced a growling stomach, or a headache or irritability because you missed a meal? How does it make you feel when you are finally able to catch up?
It’s hard to imagine that many children in the world experience this feeling every day. There are millions of school aged children around the world who rely on a hot school lunch because it is often the ONLY meal they get. It’s hard to fathom that a child anywhere would feel that growling in the pit of their stomach because there is simply nothing to eat. How can they possibly learn and grow?
I was talking to one of our overseas parters in Ukraine just last week. Her team works in several villages where people live in tremendous poverty. She told me that hot school lunches have been cancelled this year because of COVID. I understand why schools in Ukraine have made this difficult choice. I know that COVID is still spreading rapidly in Ukraine with 2000+ new cases reported every day.
However, I am terribly concerned for the thousands of children who will now go through their day hungry. My heart is breaking for the kids who now have no assurance of food at home OR at school and will go through their day with empty tummies. That is terrible new COVID-19 collateral damage!
I want to take action! We are joining with our partners in Ukraine to launch a brand new initiative to see that children DO NOT go hungry through their school day. We can feed these kids! We can help families in poverty by providing a packed lunch for their children to take to school.
$30 will provide enough food to send one child to school with a healthy, filling lunch for a whole month. That’s only about $1 a day. What else can you do for only $1 a day? That’s not even enough to buy a coffee at Timmies. I am pledging that with your help, we will feed as many of these children this month as possible.
Of course, Ukrainian children are in school for 8 months, and we want them to have healthy meals for their whole school year. With a commitment of $30/month for the next 8 months, we can make sure that the child you are feeding gets a school lunch all year. Together, we can help these children have a full stomach, get the most out of each school day, and have a brighter future!