“Susan McArthur, Program Director for Chili for Children, has been anxiously waiting to receive funding from the Wall Government so that she and her staff can begin to deliver lunches to the children,” said Morin. “Last year, Chili for Children received nearly $107,000 through the Ministry of Education and was promised an equivalent amount for the 2010-11 school year. This funding covers wages for five part-time and two full-time staff and the cost of food and supplies. This delay in funding has posed hardships for the program, the schools and families who depend on it.”
The Chili for Children program delivers hot lunches to five schools in Regina’s North Central area: Sacred Heart Community School, Imperial Community School, Albert School, Scott Collegiate and St. Luke’s School. Morin said that while the Wall Government forces Chili for Children to wait for their contract and funding, the organization has already started to receive phone calls from schools asking “where is the chili?”.
“We have a lot of families that are depending on this program. With the rising costs of living, food expenses and rent, more and more families are becoming dependent on the program,” said Susan McArthur, Program Manager for Chili for Children. “If we don’t get our base funding to operate the lunch program, we will have to look to other avenues such as fundraising. We can’t just close our doors to families in this area who depend on us, we have to keep going. We need to get our base funding as soon as possible. These kids need a full tummy to continue learning in school,” said McArthur.
“The children that really depend on the chili program went to school without lunches this week – there is no other program to supplement the services provided by Chili for Children,” said Morin. “For the Wall Government to drag its feet and deny funding for such a worthy program is truly disheartening.”
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