The Alberta government announced Thursday it is giving nine non-profits $3 million to help feed vulnerable Kindergarten to Grade 12 students, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The non-profits include:
- e4c (Edmonton) – $375,000
- Hope Mission (Edmonton) – $375,000
- Calgary Meals on Wheels – $375,000
- Brown Bagging for Calgary – $375,000
- Breakfast Club of Canada (Fort McMurray and area) – $300,000
- Salvation Army (Grande Prairie and area) – $300,000
- Lethbridge Food Bank – $300,000
- Medicine Hat and District Food Bank – $300,000
- The Mustard Seed Red Deer – $300,000
The province already has a $15.5-million school nutrition program run through 62 public, separate and Francophone school divisions, and in November topped up that funding by an additional $3 million. The funds announced Thursday is on top of that.
"School boards are encouraged to find innovative ways to provide meals or food to students while in-school classes are cancelled," the province stated in a media release Thursday.
The province added school divisions that can't continue their school nutrition programs must send their remaining funds to non-profits that can offer the service instead during the pandemic.
During the first part of the 2019-20 school year, roughly 40,000 students in about 450 schools received a daily meal through school nutrition programs.
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