The need is greater now than ever before.
The importance of the Starfish Pack program has grown exponentially over the years – with COVID-19 certainly adding it its value.
Starfish Pack began in 2013, when Abbotsford Food Bank manager Dave Murray was informed of malnutrition at Abbotsford elementary schools by his daughter, a teacher. Students were coming to class Monday morning indicating they had not eaten over the weekend.
The impact – children experiencing an inability to focus, behavioural outbursts and poor academic outcomes - was unacceptable.
So, the food bank launched a pilot project – packing and delivering backpacks to students at one elementary school.
The program has expanded from those initial six – to feeding over 200 Abbotsford elementary school students.
The Starfish program, which came to Penticton three years ago, was front and centre during Committee of the Whole Tuesday at Penticton City Council, when November was proclaimed as Starfish Backpack Month.
“It’s a huge accomplishment. Not too long ago, mayor John Vassilaki (a Rotarian) took it upon himself to actually bring a Starfish pack into council chambers and explained to council and the general public what Starfish was and how important it was to our community,” said Tracy Van Raes, who organizes the program in her role with the Rotary Club of Penticton and delivered Tuesday’s presentation to council. “They understand the need, and it’s so appreciative that they didn’t even think twice about proclaiming November as Starfish Month.”
Penticton’s Starfish Pack program began with a grant from the South Okanagan Similkameen Community Foundation. The money allowed for 10 backpacks over a 12-week period.
“The need was there, and we had educators reporting back that the impact that food had on those 10 kids was unprecedented,” said Van Raes, who has chaired the program since its inception. “So, Rotary Club knew they needed to expand the program. We’ve continuously grown the program since then to 60 children in nine different local schools.”
According to Van Raes, a School District No.67 trustee, one in five kids in BC live in poverty. The numbers are even higher in Penticton.
Last January, Rotary partnered with the Elks Lodge to expand the program. Big Jay’s Express donated its time to pick up and deliver the food to Elks Lodge, where members prepared the backpacks. Rotarians then delivered them to schools every Friday.
Then – COVID-19 hit, and Rotary’s work became even more important.
“There is concern among many leaders in this community who deal with food insecurity that that number is going to rise because of the pandemic,” said Van Raes. “A lot of families have been laid off, and the cost of food is rising. Also, there’s a lot of food unavailable right now because factories are shutting down. Those are the kind of staple foods our Starfish families rely on – things like macaroni and cheese and canned fish and meat.”
Essentially, people have less money to spend, and due to school closures last spring, families were required to feed children three meals a day seven days a week.
With classes resuming in September, these children could once again rely on PAC breakfast programs and schools to provide nutrition to children during the week, with the Starfish program picking up the slack on weekends.
Despite the pandemic, the Starfish Pack program continues, with a business model shift to gift cards which families can redeem at Save-on-Foods.
Rotary contributes $20, with Save-on-Foods adding $5.
The cost to sponsor a child for a year is $675.
To raise additional funds, Rotary is holding an online auction Nov. 15 to 30.
“We encourage the community to bid on some great Christmas hamper items. 100% of the proceeds will go to Starfish families,” said Van Raes. “And if you have a donation, please reach out to me or another Rotarian.”
“With the help of the City of Penticton, we are hoping to raise awareness of this program during November.”
To find out more on the Penticton Starfish program, click here.
Since 2013, the Starfish Pack program has grown to 21 cities, serving 2,713 students in 168 schools. For further information, click here.
