By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
CRANBOURNE West Primary School has been granted $500 from the Balla Balla Community Centre towards their breakfast club and emergency lunch program, but it’s not enough.
“We are extremely grateful for their generous support as it has recently become increasingly difficult to access funding, partly due to the government’s recent commitment to support breakfast clubs,” Debbie Dodd from the school said.
Over a four-year period, $13.7m will go to foodbank organisations to provide breakfast to students at 500 of the most disadvantaged government primary schools in Victoria.
The program will start on the first day of the 2016 school year, feeding up to 25,000 children, but Ms Dodd said their current program was in jeopardy.
“The difficulty is one of timing. Many funding organisations are realigning their priorities to take into account the upcoming government funding.
“Even with this generous donation, we will not have enough funds to run the program for the remainder of the year,” she said.
According to the Victorian Government, one in seven children are dropped off at school gates with an empty stomach.
Ms Dodd said the food programs had improved students’ concentration, well-being and helped students to reach their full potential.
“Over the past few years, our school has continued to be home to an increasing number of families who are experiencing severe financial stress, including refugee families and those affected by significant health and well-being issues. The impacts of such disadvantage can result in children having limited opportunities for moving out of the cycle of poverty,” she said.
Parents at the school have recently started to organise lunch days with the funds raised going to the breakfast and emergency lunch programs.
To donate to the school’s breakfast club, contact Debbie Dodd on 0409 419 306 or 5996 2878.
