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St. John Bosco’s Food, Friends program among recipients for the Help Kids Live Free from Hunger campaign

A nutricious lunch served to students at St. John Bosco Catholic School in Guelph, provided by the Foods and Friends program.
A nutritious lunch served to students at St. John Bosco Catholic School in Guelph, provided by the Foods and Friends program. Photo by: Kellie Angerilli
Kayla Kreutzberg - CICW - Centre Wellington • ON | 18-03-2021
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The bulk of funding for St. John Bosco Catholic School’s Food and Friends program comes from the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington’s annual campaign, Help Kids Live Free from Hunger.

Kellie Angerilli, principal at St. John Bosco in Guelph said the school’s Food and Friends program has been operating for a little over 10 years now.

“Food and friends is a cornerstone of our programming here, many of our students do live in homes where they may experience chronic food insecurities, or periodic food insecurities just based on sort of job loss and different circumstances,” Angerilli said.

Angerilli said it is essential for the school to access the funding from the campaign because they don’t have a funding base at the school.

“I wouldn’t be able to run this program without that intensive support and its funding as well that they’re sourcing out for me, and fundraising can be a full-time job,” Angerilli said.

She said for some students, the food they receive through the program might be the only balanced nutrition they receive in the day, and for many, it is the main reason they come to school.

Angerilli shared with the Grand 101.1 how many students the program supports.

“On any given day, we serve breakfast items, lunch, and snacks to approximately 30 to 40 students consistently, and on days where we’re a little bit busier it can even be up to 60 students,” Angerilli said.

She said that each year they make over 7,000 lunches for students.

Lunch supervisor, Abby Galvez, said having the Live Free campaign provides students with daily lunches is essential for the school community.

Lunch supervisor, Abby Galvez, said having the Live Free campaign provides students with daily lunches is essential for the school community. Photo by: Kellie Angerilli

This year, due to COVID-19 fundraising restrictions in schools, the Help Kids Live Free from Hunger campaign is transitioning from a school-based fundraising event to an online campaign.

Angerilli said if anyone is wanting to donate to the campaign, people can go to childrensfoundation.org and on the homepage there is a link to donate to the  campaign.

Kellie Angerilli, principal at St. John Bosco Catholic School: