With school letting out for the summer, a lot of students are at risk of losing access to a consistent source of proper nutrition, with Abbotsford's Starfish Program pleading for the public's help in ensuring that children don't go hungry this summer.
This charitable program not only provides weekend food to local school kids who suffer from a lack of food security during the school year, but also continues to offer this service during the summer months when school is not in session.
These services are currently utilized by more than 700 Abbotsford students during the school months, with most also requiring continued access to these resources during the summer months as well, which means that a lot of money is required to keep this many students fed on a regular basis.
That's why Starfish Program food security manager Rebecca Thuro recently emphasized the need for more community contributions in order to get through this summer.
"This year we are preparing for 450 students to enrol," Thuro said. "We've just reached 50 per cent of our fundraising goal, but we are lagging behind last year's pace."
Although the general service is the same during the summer as it is throughout the school year, there are some slight differences, such as the size of the food packs, which are significantly larger and offer more variety during the summer break.
Families in need can pick up these packs on a bi-weekly basis, with the summer service starting on July 2.
Having this program offered throughout the entire year is crucial for countless local families, providing relief from having to scrape together enough money to put food on the table until the kids return to school in September.
"With the extra help this program provided, I was able to still do summer activities with the children and hopefully created some positive core memories, without feeling any food anxiety," said one of last summer's participants.
The number of families in need of such a service has increased dramatically in recent years, largely due to the rise in food prices and the cost of living.
According to Statistics Canada, nearly 17 per cent of Canadian households were food insecure in 2022, which has steadily increased in the past few years, sitting 5.3 per cent higher than in 2018.
Ensuring that the Starfish Program has enough funding this summer doesn't necessarily require a major donation, with Thuro explaining that any amount of money can go a long way in keeping local children well-fed.
A donation of $168.42 is enough to give one student Starfish packs throughout the summer, while $84.20 is enough for one month, and $42.10 will cover two weeks.
Thuro encourages people to donate online through abbotsfordfoodbank.com/starfish amidst the threat of a possible Canada Post strike, which might delay contributions through the mail.
