North Queens gains food for thought
J&W Murphy Foundation donates $75,000 to school’s healthy foods program
A $75,000 donation from local philanthropists J&W Murphy Foundation has positioned North Queens Community School to offer healthier food and make it accessible to more students.
“Oh my gosh, we were incredibly overjoyed,” North Queens principal Ruth Amiro said about the contribution to the school's healthy foods program.
“There's not enough words to thank them for their donation. Last year, we put out 50 letters and we received maybe five or six donations, which was wonderful and we're very grateful for.
For (the foundation) to respond this year after we hadn't even asked yet, but just to come forward with that type of money, is incredible. It means a lot to the students and the families and the community here.”
The gift is broken down into a $25,000 contribution in each of three consecutive school years.
North Queens school in Caledonia has an enrolment of about 250 students from pre-primary to Grade 12. About 120 of those students are in junior or senior high school.
“We provide a lot of equity meals, so we feed a lot of students who wouldn't come to school with food,” Amiro said. “We serve a lot of students food, but they don't always ask for it. They won't access that equity program, we find. Unless we're offering free food to all students, they're not as likely to accept it.”
MULTIPLE CHALLENGES
Community contributions such as the Murphy endowment have helped North Queens overcome multiple challenges in enabling healthy eating at school.
“What we've asked for is just help feeding all our students and also giving them a variety of healthy food because we're in a very rural community and our local grocery store is so expensive, they don't always get to try different fruits and vegetables and different cuisine,” the principal said.
“So, we are offering free lunches to the entire school every Monday, we provide lunches on every field trip and we provide breakfast, recess (snacks) and lunch to all students who need them.”
Because students are otherwise required to self-identify their need for food assistance, they're often less inclined to opt for the equity meals, especially older students, Amiro said.
“You have to self-identify as needing
that support and we don't want to put people in the position where they have to self-identify as requiring help, so we would rather just provide it to everyone when we can,” she said.
“(Equity meals) are available for everyone, but not everyone accesses them. That's the big issue with our junior (and) senior high students, is they won't always access that, unless it's free for everyone. So, we explicitly do free lunches for the whole school.”
SIGN OF THE TIMES
Rising food costs globally have contributed to the economic crunch in schools, homes and elsewhere. The impact is most pronounced in small communities with limited shopping choices.
“It's really due to the rising food insecurity in our community,” Amiro said. “We're in a very, very rural spot. We're 45 minutes from a Sobeys or a Superstore, and it's a very, very small grocer here and the prices are quite high. It's just the way it is.”
This September, Amiro began her fourth year as principal at North Queens. During that time, she has been a strong advocate for healthy eating and promoting food availability in the community school.
“It's been about a three-year process,” she said. “When I began, this was my quest. How do we feed all our kids for free, because we know they're not going to access the food and it's
the No. 1 thing they need to learn? If they are not fed, they cannot begin to learn in the classroom. If we're truly looking at educating our students, we need to meet all their needs first.”
SETTING THE TABLE
The J&W Murphy Foundation hopes its donation inspires other organizations and local governments to support food programs in local schools.
“You can't spend a whole day learning if you haven't eaten good food,” Lisa Murphy said in a statement.
“Such a relatively small financial commitment can reap huge rewards in learning outcomes.”
Murphy and her sister, Karen Spaulding, run the foundation, which longtime Liverpool residents Janet and Bill Murphy founded 14 years ago. While the group contributes to multiple charities, the rise of food insecurity, especially among students and young people, has become of a focus of its support.
“All children of all income levels are often hungry at school,” Lisa Murphy said. “It is a universal problem. And there can be many reasons why kids are unable to access healthy food resources at home. One of the things we love about the NQCS program is that it is open to all and doesn't depend entirely upon children or families having to self-identify as being in need before being fed. When all kids get the same meal at the same time, then the stigma
of being a needy kid is gone.”
‘CREATING COMMUNITY’
Amiro believes such gatherings add another important ingredient to school life.
“When we offer a free meal for the whole school on Mondays, all the kids come in and sit down and they eat family-style,” she said. “It's not just about the free food, but it's also about creating community.”
More imaginative and inclusive eating plans are in the oven at North Queens Community School.
“Oh yes, absolutely,” Amiro said. “We're going to take it one month at a time and see how much it costs us and then see how often we can do it.
“In December, we'd like to do a pot roast or a turkey dinner and those types of things that will (attract) more kids. Sometimes we've done free lasagnas on a Friday and sent them home.
“We'll re-evaluate after Christmas and then next September. We'd love to get a salad bar. We know that when kids are able to choose their food and build their own — like, build their own pizza, taco or burrito — they experiment with more foods, they get healthier foods and they're more likely to eat it. So, that's a future plan. But for right now, it's just getting students and staff into the habit of eating at school and having enough money to provide that.”