Over 13,000 area students will benefit from nutrition program

Students in Guelph, Wellington and Duf­ferin Counties will give up some­thing that they take for grant­ed on March 6 as part of the Live Free campaign.

Currently, over 13,000 stud­ents from the Upper Grand, Wellington Catholic, and Duf­ferin Peel Catholic School Boards have agreed to live free and the numbers continue to grow.

Live Free at School parti­cipants will pledge to Live Free of a daily treat and donate a toonie to the campaign. All money raised will go to Food and Friends. Each toonie donat­ed will provide one nutritious breakfast and snack.

Food and Friends supports stu­dent nutrition programs at 56% of schools in the Upper Grand and Wellington Catholic District school boards. In a recent article published in the Canadian Journal of Medicine, it was estimated that 1 in 5 Canadian children are hungry. That is defined as a lack of access to nourishment to assist in their physical and emotional growth.

Food and Friends believes that every child has the right to go to school well nourished and ready to learn. Where programs are available, all students are welcomed.

The nutrition program has benefited all students at a Rockwood school. “It has allowed access to food during all nutrition breaks and students have commented on more than one occasion how much they appreciate it. Thank you for this program,” said principal Leslie Newman, at Rockwood Centennial.

Along with the participating schools, The Children’s Foun­da­tion of Guelph and Welling­ton is challenging businesses to Live Free on March 6.

Register to support children in the community. For more in­formation on Live Free, in­cluding a list of participating schools, and to register a busi­ness visit www.livefree­cam­paign.ca or contact The Children’s Foundation at 519-826-9551.

The Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington and Food and Friends support 58 student nutrition program sites within Guelph, Wellington and Dufferin Counties. In the 2007-08 school year over $260,000 was distributed to those pro­grams. Administrative support is provided to Food and Friends by Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.