With an increasing number of families relying on food hampers, the Surrey school district is looking for those wanting and able to help to offer a supportive hand.
Over the spring break period, 1,422 students were supported through Surrey Schools at 80 different schools across the district.
“This is the first time we have been able to provide spring break hampers to our community at this level,” development officer with the district's Feeding Futures department Adrienne Hsieh said in a release.
“It was a large operation, and we welcomed the opportunity to invite students to come and take part in helping us put the final stages together.”
The student volunteers were from Queen Elizabeth Secondary to help create the hampers that were then handed out to students in need right before the students were all off for spring break.
Food insecurity continues to be a prevalent issue across the country, especially in light of inflation racking up grocery store prices, rent hikes and given the demographic of many in Surrey's public schools being newcomers and refugees.
For this specific project, the hampers filled with nutritious food to last most of the two-week spring break were possible through the donations from City Dream Centre, Backpack Buddies, Relate Church and Starfish Pack.
“Our partners worked hard for weeks to order food from suppliers, organize volunteers to pack hampers and coordinate deliveries to schools, ensuring that students went home with a hamper on the last day of school. We can’t thank them enough for their hard work and dedication to Surrey Schools,” said Jackie Lee, associate director of food and community programs with Feeding Futures.
Now with summer break quickly approaching, the district is looking for donors to contribute support and volunteers to help pack and distribute the items.
Weekend food hampers the district provides to students are about $30 per bag but for spring break, they cost about $75 each to account for the additional food items.
"Supporting a family in Surrey for the year costs between $4,000 and $5,000, and volunteer supports goes a long way in reducing costs so that we can continue to provide for as many students as possible throughout the year," Surrey Schools states.
Anyone interested in helping out struggling Surrey families gain access to more help are encouraged to email the district's Advancement Office at bdev-office@surreyschools.ca or call 604-595-6066.
