NOTE. THE VOLUNTEER MEETING REFERENCED IN THE STORY IS ON SEPTEMBER 3 AT 11:00 AM
A Lethbridge Food Bank initiative that feeds thousands of children each week is gearing up for the start of the school year. When the schools open next week the Mindful Munchies Program will begin distributing lunches to schools throughout Lethbridge. Obviously, it takes a lot of volunteer support to keep the program running.
Twice a week during the school year, the Lethbridge Food Bank’s Mindful Munchies Program delivers around 1,800 lunches to 35 schools in the City of Lethbridge. Preparing and delivering those meals is a huge effort involving between 35 and 40 volunteers every week. Currently, the Food bank is looking for a few more volunteers like Shirley Deen who has been helping out since 2020.
“I had some extra time and I wanted to give back to the community and I thought, what better way to do that is to make sure that kids are getting fed. And so this program really spoke to me because I know I had two boys, I had two boys growing up, and their nutrition and their lunches were very important for them, for their learning and their education,” she explains
Volunteers are the heartbeat of the Mindful Munchies Program according to program facilitator Stacy Burton. She says the program is there to provide a nutritious meal for students who may have forgotten their lunch, or who may be experiencing food insecurity.
“Times are tough right now for everybody with the price of groceries and such. And we’ve seen a huge increase in the needed lunches for students in the community. It’s up, I think, 40% from two years ago. And the numbers when this program started in 2017, they were doing 100 lunches a week and now we’re up to 3500. So it’s been a huge increase over the last couple of years, especially with the cost of living and inflation,” she says.
Deen says volunteering for the program is a great way to support a worthwhile cause, but it there are also benefits for those that volunteer.
“Iit’s also given back to me because I’ve met so many people that I never have an opportunity to meet in the past in just regular day to day and I’ve met some really great individuals who I volunteer with and became friends with, and you learn so much every time you’re here,” she concludes.
The Mindful Munchies is looking for another 10 to 15 volunteers. Shifts are about three hours in length and there are both morning and afternoon shifts available. If you are interested, contact the Lethbridge Food Bank, or drop by their organizational meeting on September 3 at 11:00 am.