CLASSIFIEDSADVERTISINGSPECIAL ISSUESONLINE SPORTSOBITUARIESNORTHERN JOBSTENDERS

NNSL Photo/Graphic


Canadian North

Home page text size buttonsbigger textsmall textText size Email this articleE-mail this page

Children in need off the radar during summer
Food providers worry what students will eat once school's out

Daniel Campbell
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, June 26, 2013

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Pamela Weeks-Beaton ladles spoonful after spoonful of stew into cups as if she's racing against the clock - and she is, in a way.

NNSL photo/graphic

Pamela Weeks-Beaton and her staff volunteers at Mildred Hall School serve dozens of muffins per day to students in need of food. - Daniel Campbell/NNSL photo

It's Monday and it's the third last day of classes before the summer break at Mildred Hall School. It's also one of the last few chances Weeks-Beaton has to feed the dozens of children in need of nutritious meals at her school.

Weeks-Beaton runs the food program at Mildred Hall School. It's the largest of its kind in Yellowknife, providing 120 breakfasts, 200 hot lunches and more than 400 snacks to children per week. The program is nothing short of a success during the school year, feeding up to 40 children, according to the Canada Food Guide with only a $250 per week budget and the help of teacher-volunteers.

But Weeks-Beaton is worried. Once school finishes for the summer this afternoon, the children who access the program won't have a place to go for nutritious food.

"For most of the children this is the only good food they get to eat all day," Weeks-Beaton said of the program.

She's a mother herself, so she has a hard time imagining letting these children slip away for eight weeks of the summer.

"When you have a kid that leans up and says thanks for cutting my toast for me because no one at home cuts it for me, you see how important the program is."

Weeks-Beaton says the program doesn't only feed children at school, it provides a community environment for the children. Hungry children gather in the kitchen at Mildred Hall each morning and are able to eat their breakfasts side-by-side.

They also allow children to bag leftovers to take home to their families, who might also be in need of proper nutrition. For Weeks-Beaton, it's troubling to imagine what that means for the summer.

"If you're the oldest sibling and you have younger siblings and mom's passed out on the couch, who's going to feed them?"

Weeks-Beaton says children that don't get fed at home won't have access to food from any other food program in the city. The local food bank, for liability reasons, won't serve minors. Weeks-Beaton also volunteers there.

"We can't have young children coming down into that environment."

Ruby Trudel, who runs the local Food Rescue, a program that re-uses good food grocery stores would otherwise throw out, said she's willing to work with organizations such as the food bank and schools, but once the schools close, she can't help.

"There's nothing we can do because there needs to be a distribution point."

Trudel said once the school programs stop for the summer, Food Rescue often has an abundance of food left over, food otherwise assigned to the schools.

"It's a huge issue, but the solution isn't going to be as complicated because there's free food."

Trudel said Food Rescue would be willing to work with any organization willing to help feed children this summer.

"A call needs to go out. If that call isn't answered we need to question ourselves as a community."

Weeks-Beaton says the biggest issues are who would run the program and where it would be located. The kitchen at Mildred Hall, originally designed for home economics classes, has stoves and freezers and an eating area. She's also considered setting up a food bank distribution for children based out of a city church or the salvation army. But there's also a question of access.

"Where do we put it so children can get to it?" Weeks-Beaton asks.

As Weeks-Beaton loads dozens of muffins on to a tray for an after-lunch snack, she wonders who will step up and help once school is out.

"There's a small core of avid volunteers in Yellowknife, but this should be parent run. Why aren't parents stepping up?"

Weledeh Catholic School also runs a substantial food program during the school year. Other schools in Yellowknife provide food for students during the day but not on the same scale as Mildred Hall and Weledeh.

E-mailWe welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.