$50,723 raised for Every Breakfast Counts
Thursday, June 28, 2018
The Mayor's Office and its community partners, Algoma Family Services, Sault Ste. Marie District Social Services and the United Way of Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma District, are pleased to announce the fundraising total for
Every Breakfast Counts.
$50,723 has been raised, exceeding the $25,000 target set earlier this month. The outstanding financial support of our community has secured the operation of
Every Breakfast Counts for the summer of 2018 and the summer of 2019.
The initiative will see meals distributed to local children in need through the Social Services' neighbourhood summer programming, called Kids Being Kids. Social services staff and summer students will purchase food and distribute meals, with guidance provided from Algoma Family Services staff.
The Mayor's Office led fundraising efforts, with assistance provided by the United Way, who accepted donations and distributed receipts to donors. All of the funds raised will go towards the purchase of fresh fruit, milk, yogurt, cereals and other healthy food options.
"Our community has demonstrated tremendous generosity allowing us to far exceed the goal we had set," said Mayor Christian Provenzano.
"We are thrilled to have raised enough money to support the operation of the program for not only this summer, but next summer as well.
Every Breakfast Counts will provide much needed assistance to local children in need. I want to thank all of the donors for their kindness and civic-minded generosity. We received outstanding support from businesses, organizations and citizens. I also want to recognize and thank our community partners for coming together to address this gap in service."
The
Every Breakfast Counts fundraising campaign was launched earlier this month in an effort to address a service gap present in Sault Ste. Marie. During the summer months when students are not in school, children in need often go without a daily breakfast. Children across the community depend on programming provided during the school year to access a healthy breakfast. In conjunction with our school boards, Algoma Family Services has been providing meals to children in the Algoma District through the Student Nutrition Program since 2005. The Student Nutrition Program serves over 1 million meals annually in the Algoma District, including 446,000 meals in Sault Ste. Marie since September 2017.
"
Every Breakfast Counts will help children across our community access nutritious meals to start the day, which will advance school readiness and allow us to prepare more students for success in the classroom," said Mike Nadeau, Sault Ste. Marie District Social Services CAO.
"Our Kids Being Kids program offers activities featuring an educational component, and the ability to provide participants with a breakfast will help improve performance in these activities. I want to thank members of the public for supporting the fundraising campaign, and I am confident in saying their support will make a positive difference in the lives of local children in need."