The Rotary Club of Richmond Sunset and Richmond School District are hoping to skate circles around the issue of hungry school students later this spring.
The two have joined forces at the second annual Rotary Skates For the World May 8 at the Richmond Olympic Oval to help raise awareness and funding for the Feed-U-Cate 38 program that currently involves 16 local schools with breakfast programs.
While Richmond is, on the surface, thought of as an affluent community, the needs of many youngsters tells a different tale, said Glenn Kishi, a retired school district administrator who is organizing the Feed-U-Cate 38 program.
When he discovered many local schools already had food programs in place and each was conducting their own fundraising initiatives, he knew it was time to coordinate them and get others involved.
"When this project was started, the goal was to get the community to step up and support the breakfast programs," said Kishi said. "I knew there was support out there for the program from the Richmond Community. Sixteen schools are currently operating breakfast programs for students and a smaller number some lunch programs. All of these programs are done on a voluntary basis, so Feed-U-Cate 38 helps to financially fund the purchase of food for the students."
All of the funds go towards food, since there are no administrative costs. A total of $15,000 to $20,000 is needed annually to support these programs. Traditionally, much of that money was donated or raised by school groups, individual donations or Parent Advisory Council's.
Two thirds of the money raised at this year's Rotary Skate for the World will be directed to Feed-U-Cate 38, with the remainder will support the Rotary International "End Polio Now" worldwide campaign.
Last year, pledges from the skate totalled $15,000.
To help support this year's Rotary Skates for the World event, the Rotary Club is looking for event sponsors.
For more information, contact Magdalen Leung at 604-214-8833 or e-mail [email protected].
