The Grande Prairie and Area Salvation Army has received $300,000 in funding from the province to provide additional food assistance for vulnerable K-12 students and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The programming has been put in place for students and families unable to continue with traditional school nutrition programs.
“We want to make sure those families who are struggling, especially in light of COVID-19, but even before that, we want to make sure the students are taken care of, and because the schools are shut down we want to step up and help those families who are in need,” says Salvation Army Captain Peter Kim.
Kim says they’re still getting up to speed with just how many families may potentially sign up for the program, and they will continue to comb through applications as they come in.
“This is the first of its kind in this way, and we’re not sure exactly how many families are in need at this point. We do have a sense of how many were in need in our community already, [but] this just adds another level of support for the student as well.”
He adds that a delivery service may be brought into use for those in need, however, he says they haven’t come to a decision as of yet.
“We’re working out those details as we speak, and we are looking at how we are going to best deliver that with the restrictions of social distancing and those types of things, so we want to take every precaution for our families, our staff and our volunteers.”