To help address food insecurity in the Okanagan, Pushor Mitchell is donating $7,500 to Hope for the Nations for its Food for Thought Starfish Backpack Program. Pushor Mitchell Partner Colin Edstrom presents the cheque to Chloe Kam, Lead Program Manager for Food for Thought.
This program provides school-aged youth attending 25 schools in the Central Okanagan School District #23 with backpacks that contain bulk food items for their families. The backpacks include healthy options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks; ensuring the students and their families have access to nutritious meals.
This program, in conjunction with Hope for the Nations’ Breakfast Program, aims to ensure that students have access to proper nutrition, which is essential for cognitive development. That means that students can better concentrate and focus, which in turn, can lead to a more positive learning experience and set students on the path to a more successful future.
Joni Metherell, Managing Partner for Pushor Mitchell, expressed the importance of the firm’s support of this initiative, “With our current challenging economic climate, we know that food inflation and food insecurity are pressing issues for families. Hope for the Nations is helping to address this fundamental need by providing food to the most vulnerable students in our community. This not only helps students concentrate on their education, but also relieves the burden on their families who might otherwise struggle to put a meal on the table.”
“Since 2009, Food for Thought aims to eliminate hunger in children in the Central Okanagan, one child at a time,” says Patricia Phillips, Executive Director of Hope for the Nations Kelowna. “With one in eight children in our region struggling with food insecurity we rely on the support of our community. We are extremely pleased to collaborate with Pushor Mitchell to make a difference in the lives of youth and their families in our community so they can have a healthy and more successful future.”