Adopt-A-School: Riverdale Elementary School Food Program Doubles in 2 Years

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When Rachel Ladd became principal of Riverdale Primary School in Surrey two years ago, about 40 children came to the school looking for breakfast.

Now, on some days, there are 80 of them.

“It picked up last spring, and since then it’s gotten busier and busier and busier,” she said of the crowded breakfast program.

The school at 108A Avenue and 148th Street, which offers French immersion as well as English classes, has 460 students. There are large numbers of new Canadian and refugee families living here, and many parents are struggling to pay rent and feed their children.

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“We have a lot of families who have been evicted, but they pay high rent to stay here,” she explained. “We have a huge number of people who need support with food or food to take home. We have a lunch program so the kids often take leftovers home so they can have another meal.

“I would say the number of families struggling has doubled since I started working two years ago.”

At school, children speak 48 different languages. That’s 48 different ways to say “hungry,” and Ladd and her staff worry about what the word actually means to some children, given the obvious signs of hunger in the morning.

Does this mean that they didn’t have breakfast at home or that they haven’t eaten since they left school the day before? Were they fed a lot over the weekend?

The breakfast program, which is supported by The Vancouver Sun’s “Adopt-A-School” campaign, often provides the answer.

“This is an amazing program. It’s a great way for kids to come and socialize before they start the day, and we have several of our support staff available to reach out to us,” Ladd said.

“So we find that some of our children don’t have food at home. We had some who cried because by the time they got here they were very hungry because they had nothing to eat since leaving yesterday.

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“Our staff is trying to figure out who is in need and who needs some food to take home. But we worry that we’re not reaching our neediest families because of the language barrier, making it difficult to know who they are.

“It’s hard to guess, and some people are sometimes too proud to accept support.”

The school has a backpack program that provides 21 families with bags of food for the weekend.

“This is not enough. We still have 15 (families) on the waiting list. It’s hard to find ways to help them all.”

There is also a need for winter clothing because many children don’t have coats or boots, and Ladd is awaiting donations of used items from a South Surrey school that has pledged to help.

Breakfast at school is part of the district’s Attendance Program, which uses food to encourage children to attend class in the morning. Students from families living in poverty often miss school or are late.

About 32 elementary schools in central Surrey are participating in the program, and Adopt-A-School is being asked for $100,000 to feed about 1,000 children every day.

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There are obvious signs of hunger – an insatiable appetite and requests to bring extra food home. Ladd said school staff also watch for an uptick in disruptive behavior such as yelling, which looks like resistance to completing a task but is often hunger.

“When we notice this trend, the first thing we do is offer them something to eat.”

The day before, Ladd had walked out of her office to find a 6-year-old girl curled up on the floor outside.

“I went down to her level to see what was going on and she said, ‘I’m not going… I can’t go.’

“So I went and got her a snack, some granola bars, and opened one for her and (after she ate some). It’s like, “It’s okay, I can go now.”

“She was there, just curled up on the ground. It’s not that she doesn’t want to do something, it’s just that her brain can’t think straight at this moment.”

This year, Surrey asked Adopt-A-School for $383,000 to feed, clothe and provide emergency assistance to children whose families live on welfare or low-wage jobs and cannot support themselves after paying rent.

No administrative costs are deducted from donations, and 100 percent of donations go to the schools.

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How to donate

1. ONLINE: Donate online using your credit card at www.vansunkidsfund.ca.

2. PHONE: To pay by credit card, call 604-813-8673.

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