The rising costs of feeding a family are familiar to everyone. Thankfully, school nutrition programs have helped ensured that children have healthy food to eat throughout the school day. What happens during the summer months when children are on summer vacation? The Community Resource Centre of North and Centre Wellington (CRC) has developed the Summer Snax program, which aims to provide children with a variety of healthy snacks to tide them through until school resumes again in September.
Launched in 2024, the Summer Snax program was developed to fill the gap during the nine weeks when schools, and school-based nutrition programs, are closed. Families are provided with a combination of shelf-stable snacks, fresh produce, and gift cards to local markets or stores. The hope is that the Summer Snax program will help families cope with the rising cost of groceries.
The CRC has been supporting Wellington County families in need so that everyone has the chance to succeed. They run a licensed child care centre, before and after school programs, multiple EarlyON Child and Family Centres, and provide community outreach and support services. “Our mandate is to fill gaps in community services that other organizations aren’t able to fill,” describes Alyssandra Kent, Executive Director of the CRC.
Originally a 2-week program that was part of their back-to-school backpack program, the idea was to provide snacks until school nutrition programs were up and running. Now serving over 400 children in Centre and North Wellington, each family receives a bundle of food in late June, and then another in mid-July. These bundles contain about $10 worth of snacks per week for each child in the home including applesauce, granola bars, cereal bowls, shelf-stable milk, and popcorn.
In the first batch of bundles packaged at the end of June, CRC was also able to add $20 worth of “market bucks” that the family can spend at any farmer’s market in Wellington County. In the second round, they will receive a $30 Walmart gift card that is sure to come in handy for purchasing back-to-school supplies or allergen friendly options. “We are big on autonomy here at the CRC,” comments Alyssandra. “We want people to have the dignity of making some of their own choices.”
What is surprising about this year’s Summer Snax recipient families is the number of working parents who are having trouble providing food for their families. Full-time employment is no longer a guarantee of affordability, particularly with the high cost of housing in the county. CRC hopes that the Summer Snax program will allow these families to feed their families nutritious meals and snacks, while maintaining safe and stable housing. Kindred Credit Union is pleased to be able to support the CRC and the Summer Snax program so that children in Wellington County can have access to the nutritious food that they need to thrive during the summer months.