Community partners fill 1,400+ Spring Break food hampers, with help from Queen Elizabeth Secondary

While Spring Break was a joyous time for many families, it was also a time of need for some, and several of the district’s community partners recognized that need by generously filling more than 1,400 food hampers for students – with a helping hand from students at Queen Elizabeth Secondary.

Backpack Buddies, City Dream Centre, Starfish Pack and Relate Church – all of whom support the district’s weekend food hamper efforts to feed families outside of school hours – stepped up to gather extra donations of nutritious food for 1,422 food hampers going to 80 schools in Surrey. Additionally, 19 students from Queen Elizabeth’s peer mentorship program volunteered their efforts to assemble the hampers, receiving a behind-the-scenes opportunity to practise teamwork and communication, gain valuable work experience and give back to others who truly need it.

“This is the first time we have been able to provide spring break hampers to our community at this level,” said Adrienne Hsieh, a development officer with Feeding Futures, “It was a large operation, and we welcomed the opportunity to invite students to come and take part in helping us put the final stages together.”

“We’d like to thank City Dream Centre, Backpack Buddies, Relate Church and Starfish Pack for their ongoing commitment to supporting our school communities,” said Jackie Lee, Associate Director of Food & Community Programs with Feeding Futures. “Our partners worked hard for weeks to order food from suppliers, organize volunteers to pack hampers and coordinate deliveries to schools, ensuring that students went home with a hamper on the last day of school. We can’t thank them enough for their hard work and dedication to Surrey Schools.”

During the school year, Feeding Futures collaborates with many community partners to arrange delivery of nutritious food for students and their families over the weekends so that a continuum of care does not get interrupted by school closure. Food insecurity remains a critical issue for many families as inflation and the rising cost of living continue to put pressure on household budgets.

Weekend food packs cost on average $30 per bag. With the extended time off over spring break, hampers cost about $75 each, providing additional food to last for most of the break. Supporting a family in Surrey for the year costs between $4,000 and $5,000, and volunteer supports goes a long way in reducing costs so that we can continue to provide for as many students as possible throughout the year.

“Weekend and holiday food support for students in Surrey would not be possible without the generosity of our community partners,” said Lee. “We are committed to working with our valuable partners to ensure that food support is available both inside and outside of classroom hours, helping to meet the needs of children and families year-round.”

Thank you to all of our community partners for supporting our students over Spring Break and year-round!

The district hopes to provide food hamper support for students and families in need this summer, and we are looking for donors and volunteers to help! If you would like to donate to support summer food hampers, or would like to volunteer to assemble food hampers, please reach out to our Advancement Office at bdev-office@surreyschools.ca or 604-595-6066

Surrey Schools is always fundraising for in-school and out-of-school food funding and continues to look at other ways to provide support in the future, including volunteering or donating for summer food support.

If you are interested in partnering with us monetarily, the district accepts donations online and by email (donations@surreyschools.ca), mail, fax, phone and automatic bank debit. The district provides tax receipts for cash donations over $20. To donate or for more information, visit our Donations and Ways to Give pages or email the Advancement department at BDEV-Office@surreyschools.ca