A local School Lunch Program just got a needed boost.
The Okotoks Elks donated $15,000 to the Okotoks School Lunch Program on April 28.
The program is run out of the United Church and was first started by Coordinators Brian Olson and his wife Shannon 13 years ago.
“What a warm, and giving community Okotoks is, with people like the Elks, who came up with this rather large investment for the kids,” Olson said. “We're just so grateful for them and the others that come forward on an annual basis.”
Initially, the program provided two schools with 26 meals a day. The program has since expanded to eight schools and about 17,500 lunches annually.
“It's a program that's gotten huge support in the community, and the support from the Elks is another example of that,” Olson said. “The Elks have supported us since year one.”
Throughout the last decade, the community has continued to support the program in various ways, such as the United Church donating the commercial kitchen to prepare the meals, residents volunteering to cook the meals, buying ingredients, and fundraising initiatives.
“We have a team of people who are committed to feeding kids who otherwise wouldn't have lunch,” Olson said. “We have no overhead; every cent that comes to us is converted into food."
The number of students utilizing the program constantly varies, with a low of 50 students a day and up to 100 students a day.
“People move, parents find jobs, or they lose jobs. There are all kinds of reasons why we go up and down,” Olson said.
The process to participate is simple. Teachers observe the students who are not eating lunch regularly and get in touch with the counsellors at school, who reach out to the parents.
If it's determined that there is a need for food regularly, the student is signed up to receive a lunch through the program.
“We don't know who they are. We just have a number at each school, and we deliver them,” Olson said. “We've been at this long enough, all the bugs are worked out.”