SPECIAL MISSION TO HELP FEED OUR SCHOOLKIDS

A TOWNSVILLE volunteer is travelling thousands of kilometres to make sure primary school Aussie kids start the day the right way.

Life Education educator Donna Walker is used to travelling North Queensland delivering sandwiches to schools in the charity’s famous Healthy Harold van.

But this month Ms Walker has embarked on a special mission to donate 300 boxes of Weet-bix to 34 schools in Townsville, Charters Towers and the Burdekin.

The donations are a way for Townsville-based Life Education to teach students about how to make healthy food choices and look after their bodies.

Ms Walker said she wanted to give back to the community during COVID-19 restrictions.

“I’m well aware that there are children in my classes whose families are doing it tough and at times they’re coming to school with nothing or very little to eat,” she said.

“It’s reassuring to know there are organisations like Eat Up that can provide quality food so kids can come to school without having to worry about being hungry and tired.”

Eat Up chief executive officer Lyndon Galea said the impact of the coronavirus pandemic had seen an increased demand for food assistance for hungry kids and their families.

“Usually we meet that demand via hands-on sandwich-making sessions with volunteers but we have had to adapt to ensure we can still support hungry school kids,” she said. “Thanks to Life Education we will be able to fill our van four times over with Weet-bix, So Good and UP&GO.”

She said the deliveries could not have been completed without the generosity of Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company.