In the context of rising food insecurity, soaring food prices, increased cost of living, and the added burden of tariffs, families across Ontario are facing impossible choices, which directly impact the well-being of the youth and their capacity to learn. Today, nearly one in three children lives in a food-insecure household, a crisis so severe that several cities, including Toronto, Kingston, and Mississauga, have officially declared food insecurity a state of emergency in recent months. Despite the recent governmental commitments, this ongoing crisis is putting unprecedented strain on schools and nonprofits, including Breakfast Club of Canada, as more families turn to school food programs.

“Behind these numbers lies immense potential: talents, voices and dreams are at risk due to a lack of access to nutritious food. Breakfast programs are not a universal solution to today’s challenges, but they remain a beneficial intervention for thousands of students throughout the school year,” says Tommy Kulczyk, President and CEO of Breakfast Club of Canada. “Every child deserves an equal chance to success, no matter their circumstances,” he adds.

A seat at the table for equality

Breakfast Club of Canada and its community partners have seen an average 30% increase in the number of children served in existing breakfast programs over the past few years in Ontario. Today, over 650,000 children benefit from a nutritious breakfast through over 3,200 school nutrition programs supported by the Club and its partners, and the demand continues to grow. “We recognize the efforts and initiatives from all levels of government, especially through the National School Food Program, that played an important role in helping schools respond to growing needs. Despite this important step, now more than ever, support from all sectors is essential to maintain and expand programs that ensure every child starts their day with the nourishment they need,” says Judith Barry, Co-Founder and Director of Government Relations at Breakfast Club of Canada. “Whether in urban centres or remote regions, all students deserve access to nutritious food at school to support their development and learning. This is an issue that concerns us all,” she adds. Indeed, the Club has observed that one in three schools across the province identifies access to healthy, affordable food as a daily challenge.

Education is essential. So is nutritious food. Let’s make the choice to help feed children at school.

Proud of its 30-year history, Breakfast Club of Canada supports a variety of operational models through First Nations partners, as well as Student Nutrition Ontario and its network of regional lead agencies. The Club is committed to continuing this support while ensuring that every breakfast includes the key components of Canada’s Food Guide (protein, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) as well as promoting local food sourcing and food sovereignty within communities.

Breakfast Club of Canada is calling on Ontarians to join this movement of solidarity and believe in the power of breakfast. Starting today, anyone can help a child reach their full potential by texting “CLUB” to 20222 or by donating at breakfastclubcanada.org/back-to-school.

For this important fundraising campaign, the Club can also count on the generosity of the MTY Foundation, which will match all donations until October 31. To build awareness, ads will be broadcast on TV, online, and across social media throughout the campaign. Together, let’s help children reach their full potential.

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Breakfast Club of Canada is launching its important Back-to-School fundraising campaign to be able to meet the ever-growing demand for school nutrition programs.

Once again this year, the Club and its numerous partners will reach hundreds of thousands of children from coast-to-coast-to-coast and help them start their day with a complete and nutritious breakfast. A commitment that is all the more necessary as the current socio-economic situation is increasing the needs in the community as well as the cost of food and transportation that continues to rise. In recent years, the Club has seen a significant increase in schools across Canada requesting support for a complete school nutrition program. The number of requests to implement a breakfast program is constantly growing.

Furthermore, according to the most recent data from Statistics Canada, in 2022, 1.8 million children, compared to 1,4 million children in 2021, live in a food insecure household.

“At Breakfast Club of Canada, we are committed to our role as a national player in the school nutrition ecosystem across Canada, and we approach it each year with renewed ambition,” stated Tommy Kulczyk, President and Chief Executive Officer at Breakfast Club of Canada. “Our Back-to-School fundraising initiatives are crucial as we are currently experiencing a perfect storm of obstacles making the number of schools wanting to provide nutritious breakfasts to their students increase each day.”

Throughout the upcoming year, the Club’s budget will only allow for the maintenance of existing programs with very few new programs in schools that will be put in place. Without the help of generous donors, partners and governments, the number of schools requesting support from the Club continues to grow.

“Our message is simple: as you prepare for the start of the school year, we ask that you take a minute to think about the children who will go to school hungry. We hope that a donation at the start of the school year becomes the simplest and most natural gesture of the back-to-school ritual. Indeed, providing breakfast at school is the easiest way to help all children reach their full potential,” explains Judith Barry, Co-Founder and Director, Government Relations at Breakfast Club of Canada.

School nutrition programs are recognized for their many beneficial impacts on children, school environments and local communities. Members and partners of various initiatives, including the School Meals Coalition and the World Food Program run by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, state that these programs, including breakfast programs, contribute positively to the education, health and well-being of children, as well as to economic development and to community food systems.

In fact, more than 900 schools recently reported to the Club that the most significant impacts they have observed through their programs include improving learning capacities and/or academic achievement (31.4%)*, meeting students’ basic need for food and/or reducing hunger (22.8%)*, ensuring students have reliable access to nutritious/varied meals/food (21.8%)*, building a positive school climate, positive relationships/interactions and/or a sense of community and belonging (19.7%)*, improved mental health, well-being, mood and/or behaviour (12.3%)* and providing a safe, inclusive and destigmatized environment (12.1%)*.

“Every day we see the real impact a nutritious breakfast can have on a child’s life,” says Judith Barry. “Never before has investing in school nutrition programs been so critical. It is for these reasons that we count on the support of individuals, our partners and governments to help children because success tomorrow starts with a breakfast today.”

The Back-to-School campaign, Breakfast Club of Canada’s largest fundraising campaign, will run until September 30, 2023. To donate online: visit www.breakfastclubcanada.org/bts2023/. To make a donation via text message: text CLUB to 20222.

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This year’s fundraising activities contributed $4.5 million and included a $1 million corporate donation from Walmart Canada. Customers were invited to donate in-store and online and Walmart associates organized fundraising initiatives to support the Club’s activities to make sure children have an equal chance to learn.

Breakfast Club of Canada has been working tirelessly for the past 28 years and today reaches more than 580,000 children in over 3,500 school nutrition programs throughout Canada each morning. With inflation reducing the ability of individuals and households to afford essential expenses, the demand has increased for essential services provided by various organizations. More than ever, the Club’s operations rely on a dedicated network of partners, such as Walmart Canada to gather resources and bring the organization closer to a goal: breakfast for every child, every day.

“For two decades, Walmart Canada has been a major partner who understands the importance of the work we do to nurture children’s potential through breakfast programs,” highlighted Judith Barry Co-Founder & Government Relations Director. “Their continued commitment to reaching more children across the country and the annual fundraising campaign gives us the chance to reach a large audience and encourage millions of Canadians to support our cause. Breakfast Club of Canada is grateful for the support and the strong relationship built with Walmart over the years.”

“Together with Breakfast Club of Canada, we’ve been making great strides in fighting hunger and ensuring kids are fueled to learn with greater access to nutritious school meals,” said Rob Nicol, Vice President, Communications and Corporate Affairs at Walmart Canada. “We’re proud to partner with Breakfast Club of Canada and we would like to thank our associates and customers for a record-breaking year, for their overwhelming generosity and another fantastic campaign.”

* The Club’s national contribution average is $0.50 per breakfast. For every dollar Walmart, its customers and associates raise, Breakfast Club of Canada can help provide two meals to children.

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The Club and its partners currently help to reach more than 580,000 children each morning in over 3,500 school nutrition programs. There are also a couple hundred schools on the Club’s waitlist for such a program and the list continues to increase.

Due to an increase in operating costs related to the pandemic, the expansion of the scope of programs and rising food costs, the organization will struggle to maintain support for existing breakfast programs during the upcoming school year.

These steep cost increases are having a significant impact on the Club’s operations and in the absence of a National School Food Program and temporary emergency funding from the government, the school nutrition ecosystem is even more reliant on individual and corporate contributions.

“We are currently experiencing a perfect storm of obstacles that is having a substantial impact on our operations and our ability to support programs,” explains Tommy Kulczyk, President and CEO of Breakfast Club of Canada. “Our expenses for food, equipment and transportation are increasing at a faster rate than our revenues and breakfast programs are becoming more expensive to maintain.”

A Shortfall of A Couple Million Dollars

According to revenue projections, in order to maintain its support for school nutrition programs already backed in part by the Club, the organization anticipates a significant financial shortfall for the 2022-2023 school year. At this time, no new additional breakfast programs can be supported by the Club in schools over the coming school year.

“In 27 years of existence, the Club has never broken its promise to the children,” declares Judith Barry, Co-Founder and Director, Government Relations at Breakfast Club of Canada. “More than ever, the Club needs the support of public and private donors to help feed children in a context where they are often the most vulnerable.”

The Back-to-School Campaign, the Club’s largest fundraising campaign of the year, will run until October 30, 2022. To make a donation:

Online: www.breakfastclubcanada.org/bts2022
Text message: Text CLUB to 20222

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