Toronto Foundation for Student Success (TFSS), #feedtomorrow event overview

Website: http://tfss.ca/
Event type: Charity
Event date: Oct. 9th, 2014

As a food blogger, I feels nice to get away from my regular posts and share information on charities worth knowing about. The Toronto Foundation for Student Success (TFSS), a registered charitable foundation of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) was a charity that resonated with me as they have programs that deal with child hunger and poverty.

There are many studies that show that a hungry child has a direct impact on their grades and motivation. If a child is hungry, it is hard to focus and learn. 78% of secondary school students who eat breakfast on most days are on track for graduation. Did you  know that 3.9 million people in Canada do not know when they are going to eat next? The scary part is that 1.1 million of that number are children. More alarming stats on the #feedtomorrow fact sheet.

From Oct. 6th to 10th, the #feedtomorrow week was the largest awareness campaign of its kind for hunger and nutrition programs. As part of the campaign, I was invited by Mary Luz (@maryluzonfood) to participate in the #feedtomorrow events by seeing the nutrition programs in action!

Off on a yellow school bus with a group of Toronto VIPs (nutrition program donors, politicians and passionate advocates for TFSS), we first visited the Nelson Mandela Park Public school where we were welcomed by principal Jason Kandankery to introduce the nutrition program staff and the students.  The program includes asking parents to voluntarily pay $0.25/day to provide a healthy breakfast for their children to ensure they will be well nourished and ready to learn.

At the school, The Breakfast Club of Canada generously donated $658,000 to TFSS to support the nutrition program. That was incredible!

The next stop was at Sprucecourt Public school in Cabbagetown where we met with principal Matthew Reid who talked about their school’s nutrition program and described the positive impact it had on the kids. At the event, Glenn Hadden from the Hadden Family Foundation discussed his vision of having children globally getting equal access to nutrition programs, as well as why he supports the initiatives of TFSS.  At the school, he presented a generous cheque of $150,000.

As part of understanding the nutrition program, each of the attendees got a chance to bring snacks to the classrooms. I got to spend time in a Jr. kindergarten class where seeing the enthusiastic kids really touched my heart.

After the tour, we had a reception hosted by the St. Lawrence Market store owners and had a “Sushi Making for the Soul” workshop led by Chef/restaurateur Sang Kim. As we were taught how to make delicious sushi rolls, he addressed important issues and facts related to hunger and poverty. Sang Kim has a big heart and really gives back. This year, he conducted the world’s largest sushi making class via the internet and helped teach food literacy for children.

The nutrition program was an example of one of the TFSS programs that have made a difference! The TFSS “Beyond 3:30” program provides kids access to after-school programs operated right in the school. The Jr. Chef program has been a hit and a great and safe learning environment.

According to the TFSS website “TFSS operates independently from the TDSB. However, thanks to support provided by the TDSB, there is no administration fee for funds donated to School-based Nutrition Programs and the Emergency Fund, enabling a full 100% of all donations to go directly to these programs.” That is amazing!

What an incredible event seeing donation dollars and programs in action. The nutrition programs do make a difference and can’t happen without all the volunteers and sponsors like you. TFSS is worth donating to, more information on how HERE!

Also, thank you to all the sponsors at the St. Lawrence Market!

* Although the meals were complimentary, the post was not sponsored by the TFSS and the opinions in the post are my own.