In recent years, we have sought to further anchor Breakfast Club of Canada’s programs in the community, favouring a joint approach with local stakeholders. Accordingly, the Club and La Cantine pour tous have established an innovative partnership to address the needs of several Montreal schools with a large student population but limited space. Both organizations are committed to promoting food security and healthy eating habits among students. We have therefore built on these values to pool our resources and expertise to set up new breakfast programs or expand existing ones.
This shared vision is consistent with the needs of many Montreal schools, including those served by the Pointe-de-l’Île School Services Centre (CSSPI), which do not have the space to accommodate the Club’s food shipments. In collaboration with CSSPI, we have developed an approach that takes these challenges into consideration. Inspired by this desire to work together and CSSPI’s flexibility and resourcefulness, we have forged ties with La Cantine pour tous and other local organizations. Six schools have since opened a breakfast program and others will soon be following in their footsteps.
La Cantine pour tous deals with a diverse network of catering organizations that specialize in the preparation and distribution of healthy meals. Because they are located close to the schools they serve, deliveries can be smaller and more frequent, making them easier to accommodate. La Cantine pour tous works with the Club to support the caterers in developing menus, preparing recipes, operationalizing selection and distribution activities, and more. As a result, schools can benefit from customized “home-cooked” meals, frequent deliveries, and a class-identified bin system, which makes the corresponding in-school storage and distribution logistics that much easier to handle.
Manon Pelletier, head of the breakfast program at Pierre de Coubertin Elementary School, recently surveyed her students to find out what they thought about the meals cooked by their assigned caterer, Mon Resto Saint-Michel. Their answer was loud and clear: they love them! And she is very satisfied with the relationship between the school, La Cantine pour tous and the Club. Likewise, Fatima Chouaiby of Mon Resto Saint-Michel says she is grateful for this arrangement. She credits the personal approach of the La Cantine pour tous team and the Club’s support for making the whole operation easier and more enjoyable. Buffet Insère-Jeunes and Fourchettes de L’Espoir also contribute to the breakfast programs and their involvement has been met with a similarly high level of satisfaction. Efforts are underway to collaborate with other organizations to get more programs up and running. For a complete list of the members of the La Cantine pour tous network, click here.
Through this partnership with La Cantine pour tous and its member organizations, Breakfast Club of Canada is successfully monitoring the strengths and resources of the community to respond to the needs of schools. We are thrilled to be working alongside such committed partners to create strong programs that help us increase food security and improve access to healthy food for our students.
