 |
| Ontario School Council Network |
| Creating and Maintaining a School Snack Program |
| This idea was sent in by a School Council member in the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. The below information has been added in the words of the School Council member. She has had extensive experience with setting up and co-ordinating snack programs. If you have any questions/comments about this snack program, please, feel free to email it and it will forwarded to the School Council member. The question/answers will be posted below and also forwarded to the person asking. If your School Council has a snack program in place, please, email it and it will be posted on here as well. The more that are shared, the better! Click here to email your ideas/questions/comments. |
| Helpful Ideas from School Councils |
| The ideal snack program would have a bin/container of fruits and vegetables available in each classroom every day. The students would have access to as much as they want, when the want. The cost is approximately $ 1.00 per week. Some side effects: students who forget their lunch will have nutritious food available, reduction in garbage (less packaged snacks), in some schools absenteeism was reduced (better imune systems), lifelong healthful snacking practices. To implement this you would need at least two volunteers, each mornint to prepare food and one volunteer at night to clean up (dispose of leftovers, sanitize containers). From experience: the more volunteers, the better. There have been many new and lasting friendships developed. It became a bit of a social club. As co-ordinator, I set up a "team" (shared phone numbers) in that each volunteer became responsible for their time slot. If they could not make in (sick child, etc) it was their responsibility to call someone on the list to fill in for them. Make the program fit the volunteers, not athe other way around. If there is support for only two days a week, run the program two days a week. It can alwasys be expanded as more people are available. If you try to run the program everyday without enough parents, one or two people will become "burned out" very quickly. Currently, our school is still under construction and our facilities are not accessible. We are serving bananas and oranges (no washing required, no need to refrigerate) three days a week. There are always solution to any problem. A summary about starting a snack program in Hamilton, Ontario - share idea with Principal/administration - their support is crucial and they also have information about facilities available for food preparation - contact Partners in Nutrution / Breakfast for Learning about a grant for starting up funding (supplies, fridge, etc) (Additional Note: Breakfast for Learning assists community programs across Canada. There are many other organizations that are available, as well. Just do some quick research and one can be found. If you know of one, please, share it by emailing the name and contact information. Thanks!) - share information at School Council - address idea/concept with school community through a flyer, point out advantages (better food choices), ask for volunteers - solicit local businesses for support funds/donations , groucery stores for bulk purchases, wholesale food suppliers, retails stores for discount on supplies (containers) - it doesn't hurt to ask - contact Public Health to inspect facilities - get information about safe food preparation - when asking for donations from parents emphasize it is voluntary - there must not be any social stigmas attached to this program, every child should have access to the food - we learned that some parents could not remember "a loonie a week", but wanted to pay for the year or half a year in advance by cheque - this works too -some fundraising will be necessary - 50% support in donations from families is average |
| This page was updated on December 8, 2003 |
| This page was created on October 24, 2003 |
 |
|
| From a School Council member in the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board |
| Organizations where funding for Snack Programs can be found: |
 |
|
|
|
|
|