A local school lunch program recently received a financial boost.
The Lunches to Learn program, developed by local business owner Marty Curtis, ensures that local students are fed throughout the school day.
The Lacombe Rotary Club provided a donation last week to continue on the worthwhile program.
Curtis said he started the program in 2011 after learning of a young student at the local junior high school who was going through some tough circumstances at home and had no food to eat.
“As the owner of Subway in town, I had the teacher’s aide who was telling me about him stop in at Subway and get him a sandwich everyday until school was finished for the year,” said Curtis. “From there the program grew as we inquired with the social workers at the various schools around Lacombe as to how much of a problem this was.”
This year the program assists 20 students. Four local restaurants (Panago Pizza, Extreme Pita and Eastside Eatery and Subway) have also come on board to make lunches for the students throughout the week.
“We also have 45 steady volunteers who each take their own day and deliver the lunches to the kids every week during the school year,” said Curtis.
At the start of the program, Curtis approached A Better World Canada about the project. Currently the volunteer organization provides administrative support.
With an average cost of $3.25 per lunch, around 1,060 handmade lunches had been delivered to students in need in Lacombe schools by the end of 2015.
“This would not be possible if it were not for clubs like the Rotary who have given $5,000 annually to the program for the past two years and the Kinsmen who have given $3,000 annually to the program,” said Curtis.
news@lacombeexpress.com