Lunch Munch/School Meals

According to the most recent BC Child Poverty Report Card, more than 5,000 children in the Nanaimo Regional District live in poverty — that’s more than one in five.

And with poverty comes lack of food security, with parents often being unable to afford the healthy food kids need to learn, grow and thrive. During the school year, school meal programs help fill the gap, but those cease during summer holidays. Our School Meals/Summer Lunch Munch program steps in to provide food provisions to school-aged children throughout the year. Designed with the 2019 Canada Food Guide in mind, it focuses on increasing nutrition through offerings such as salads, wraps and soups.

In 2019, our School Meals and Summer Lunch Munch programs helped facilitate:

14,500 healthy lunches to children

550+ salad bar meals at community dinner events

1,000 visits to Foodshare providing interactive learning around food to summer day camp children

720 children aged 6-17, developed cooking skills during 76 cooking classes.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions with the district, we are currently providing individually wrapped handhelds to students.