belairdirect is proud to announce its partnership renewal with Breakfast Club of Canada, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing funding and services for school breakfast programs in communities across the country. With a donation of $1.5 million, belairdirect will continue to support Breakfast Club of Canada over the next three years, building on the success of the partnership that began in 2018.
Under the belairdirect partnership, three new breakfast programs were expanded in Victoria, BC; Toronto, Ontario; and St. John’s, Newfoundland over the past three years and belairdirect’s continued partnership will now help sustain even more locations where needed most. Over the next three years, this renewed commitment will also enable the Club to continue to build strong relationships with federal, provincial and municipal governments so that children across Canada will have access to a nutritious breakfast. belairdirect also supports Breakfast Club of Canada’s efforts to enhance its reach by financing their impact study which will allow the Club to perfect its models.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on food insecurity in Canada, with the number of children who start their day on an empty stomach increasing from over 1 million to over 2 million. Given the new health and safety standards now in place and the higher price of food, the average cost of each breakfast has also risen from $2 to $3, along with breakfast program attendance in schools rising in all provinces and territories from 25% to 30% on average.
“With the disheartening fact that over 2 million children are going to school on an empty stomach, COVID-19 has heightened the need for breakfast programs across the country,” said Anne Fortin, Senior Vice President, Direct Distribution and Chief Marketing Officer at belairdirect. “This continued partnership is near to my heart and a source of pride to our employees across the country. Together with Breakfast Club of Canada, we want to help ensure that our country grows up healthy and strong by providing relief to vulnerable children and their families during this crisis and beyond.”
“For us, the pandemic has confirmed that the Club cannot hope to feed children and youths alone,” said Tommy Kulczyk, General Manager at Breakfast Club of Canada. “As the needs from families and schools increased, we were fortunate enough to receive additional support from our partners and donors. Thanks to our many supporters, including belairdirect, we can continue to strive for children’s well-being and for nutrition to be a priority at the national level and to feed as many students as possible during these unprecedented times.”
Serving more than 257,743 nutritious breakfasts daily in 1,887 schools throughout Canada, Breakfast Club of Canada programs make sure children have an equal chance to learn. Recognizing the importance of the Club’s research into the impact of their programs, through this partnership renewal a continued focus will be on the implementation of key findings which will be shared over the coming years. Breakfast programs may focus on children, but their impact ripples over to families, schools and entire communities.
