Two local non-profits have joined forces to support food security in Greater Victoria schools.
At their Feb. 20 meeting, 100 Women Who Care Westshore (WWCW) donated $7,200 to Flourish School Food Society (FSFS), a non-profit dedicated to building school meal programs for students in need.
WWCW, a volunteer group spanning Sooke and the West Shore, meets quarterly to select a charity for its collective donation.
“I think the members voted for [FSFS] because they touched the hearts of the members that night!” said Blair Lefebvre, founder of the West Shore chapter of 100 Women Who Care.
For FSFS, the funding is a welcome boost.
“We're excited to have that community support. It helps us a great deal to be able to provide food a little bit more openly in schools where there is a high need,” said Matthew Kemshaw, FSFS' executive director.
FSFS started nearly three years ago, providing meals, grocery items and integrating food literacy at eight schools in the region. They've since expanded and now support all schools within the Sooke School District as well as Reynolds, Oak Bay and Mount Doug secondary schools.
Kemshaw says that today FSFS serves 1,100 servings of food to 22 schools a day through their kitchen program, but as they have grown, they’ve realized how great the demand is.
“Schools need more than just a hot lunch. They also need grocery items, and we support that program. We also support breakfast programs and lunch programs,” said Kemsahw.
Now FSFS provides up to 2,600 servings of snack foods daily to up to 30 schools.
With their new funding, Kemshaw hopes to reach even more students. Many schools are limited in how much food they can provide and how openly they can do it, he added.
“The schools end up creating these lists and only students on the list can get lunch and food through their programs. That ends up stigmatizing kids and making them feel singled out.”
“With the funding we’ve received, we’re going to select a couple of schools where they have a high demand so that they can offer the food a bit more openly without a list, so they can say ‘We have food and if you need it come get it.’”
WWCW began in 2019, with a brief hiatus during COVID. Now they make donations to non-profits and charities throughout the region four times a year.
At each meeting, organizations present to the group explaining why they’re deserving of a donation. The members then vote on a charity and each provide a $100 donation. The groups who are not selected go back into the pool where they can be chosen again at a later date.
“It’s always a hard choice because all the charities are so deserving to win the money,” said Lefebvre.
“Flourish is great because they are helping so many kids in our communities that don’t have access to good healthy food daily & what they are doing is amazing.”
Since its inception, WWCW has raised $110,000 for local charities. While the West Shore chapter currently has fewer than 100 members, Lefebvre hopes to change that to match its name.
“Our goal is to get to 100 members or more; then, each time, we would present a cheque for $10,000 or more to each charity & that would be so amazing!”
