By: Pam Wright, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Chatham Voice
Never underestimate the power of a cheese string or a bunch of grapes.
That’s according to those who help feed children in 46 schools in Chatham-Kent. Administered by the Victorian Order of Nurses, the local Ontario Student Nutrition Program (OSNP) distributes more than 1.8 million snacks annually to some 15,000 students in Chatham-Kent.
As part of a Fueling Our Futures awareness event held recently at Retro Suites in Chatham, two local educators shared the many positives the OSNP has on local youth.
Mike Hardwood, vice-principal at Tecumseh Public School in Chatham, and Mike Ostropolec, co-ordinator of the breakfast program at Tilbury District High School, get to see the difference nutrition makes in the lives of students.
“We are probably the most diverse school in Chatham,” Hardwood said, adding the school population draws from every socio-economic group.
“On average, we are probably feeding 400 students a day,” Hardwood told the gathering, at a cost of about $1,000 a week.
He said the school is also helping 25 families with food, clothing and hygiene products.
“A lot of families don’t know where to turn.”
According to Hardwood, 24 snack plates are prepared and delivered to every homeroom each morning.
“You wouldn’t believe the amount of students who can’t believe they have a cheese string,” Hardwood said, adding some students come from families who either can’t afford or don’t value nutrition.
Participating in the program is rewarding for everyone involved, including volunteers and donors.
“You will see just the absolute joy in the faces of these students and how much it means to them that somebody cares about them,” he said. “It’s a really hard thing to talk about sometimes…to see a kid who’s struggling…and they get what they need.”
Ostropolec echoed Hardwood.
