Early in the morning on December 19th, in the true spirit of Christmas, a group of Skyline owners and managers lent a hand to serve a warm breakfast to over 50 special children at the Shelldale Community Centre in Guelph. This daily breakfast program is organized through the Children’s Foundation “Food & Friends Program” that provides meals to over 12,000 school aged children in our community each year.
With over 80 on-site programs and nearly 600 volunteers that help shop for, prepare and deliver the snacks and meals, the mission of this program is to promote the belief that every child has the right to go to school well-nourished and ready to learn.
The Shelldale Community Centre program that the Skyline team visited is just one of the eight (8) programs that Skyline is funding in order to provide healthy breakfast and snack solutions to over 1,800 children in need in the communities around some of our local buildings.
Skyline has adopted the following schools through the Food & Friends program;
List of Adopted Schools in Guelph
Onward Willow (Shelldale Community Centre)
Gateway Public School
Ottawa Crescent Public School
Paisley Road Public
List of Adopted Schools in Fergus
St. Joseph Catholic School
J.D. Hogarth Public School
List of Adopted Schools in Mount Forest
Youth Moving Forward (Secondary Alternative Education Program)
The Importance of Funding These Initiatives
Skyline is funding breakfast and/or snack programs at each of these schools in order to ensure every child has access to nutritional meals. Skyline also understands the importance of building strong communities and supporting the children and families that live in our buildings and the surrounding areas and this is just one small contribution to that cause.
While visiting the breakfast program, Roy was on pancake duty, serving them up and sampling a few along the way while Matt did his best to promote healthy eating while encouraging kids to try some fruit (not an easy task!). Marissa was on juice and cereal duty while Marty manned the toasting station. Meanwhile, Jason and Wayne circulated from table to table chatting with kids and participating in board games and fun conversation. It was an incredible experience to see Skyline’s contributions firsthand and to know that as a team, we are playing a part in something important and impactful.
“Thank you so much for assisting with setting up the visit and volunteering at the Onward Willow breakfast program. What a wonderful morning! I am in awe that all the owners took the time to come and see first-hand how their donation will assist this wonderful cause. I’m especially impressed at how you all interacted with the students at the program. Sometimes the students feel intimidated by having “strangers” serve breakfast but that certainly was not the case this morning,” stated Anita Macfarlane, Community Program Director, Food & Friends).
To learn more about these breakfast programs organized by the Children’s Foundation of Guelph & Wellington or about the “Food & Friends” program in general, you can visit their website at www.childrensfoundation.org.