Rotary Club of North Delta’s Starfish Pack program has grown a lot in the eight years since it began, and last school year was the initiative's biggest yet.
Launched in 2016, the program provides students in need with food to sustain them over the weekend so they are healthy and ready to learn come Monday morning. The initiative, which is now in all 14 North Delta public elementary schools, is entirely volunteer-run and the club’s single biggest project.
According to Donations Chair, John Shepherd, “As for the Starfish Pack program, "
"The cost of the program has risen due to rising food costs and the growing number of families receiving weekly packages," said John Shepherd, donations chair with Rotary Club of North Delta, adding the program cost $148,225.55 for the 2023-24 school year.
Starfish Pack co-ordinator Al Seabrook noted that, as the program is staffed by volunteers, "every dollar is spent on food purchased at a discount from the Save-On-Foods store on Scott Road and on [buying] cloth bags.”
Last school year, demand for Starfish Packs in North Delta was the greatest in the program's short history, up 70 per cent from the previous year.
In June alone, volunteers packed and delivered over 1,100 kilograms of food each week, providing more than 260 families with enough food to help them feed over 500 children and youths approximately 1,500 meals per week.
How it works is staff at each school look for symptoms of food insecurity among their students and provide program volunteers with the number of packages to deliver. The program is anonymous as only school staff know which children receive the food packages.
The contents of each Starfish Pack varies from week to week and is adjusted based on the family’s dietary preferences and food allergies. Each pack contains sufficient food for six meals per household — roughly 4.5 kilograms, or 10 pounds — with child-friendly menus designed by a nutritionist.
Thankfully, the program has so far met the challenge of helping feed local children in need, with help from the club's partners, including the Delta School District, Save-On-Foods and Deltassist, and the generosity of a number of donors..
As well, over the past year the program has received grants from the province, TELUS Community Boards, Vancouver Sun Adopt-A-School, Gulf & Fraser Credit Union, Delta Community Foundation, and Mazon Canada.
Put together, it's enough for North Delta Rotarians to once again deliver Starfish Packs to the kids that need them, all year long.
“We gratefully appreciate the donations from our many donors, and consequently we are able to implement the program for the 2024-25 school year,” club president Jon Marks said.
For more information on the program, visit https://portal.clubrunner.ca/1355/page/starfish-pack-program.
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