London-Middlsex
Community Development Coordinator
Jody Winegarden
(519) 521-5976
[email protected]
Katherine Hogendoorn
(519) 671-6258
[email protected]
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89
Schools
22,917+
Students
3,975,112+
Healthy meals/snacks projected
for the 2023.24 school year
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Community Partnership
To ensure your donation stays within our community, donations to OSNP Middlesex-London can be made through Investing in Children. Please ensure OSNP London-Middlesex is mentioned on your donation
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Special Project Highlights
Cultural Menu Enhancement Project
The Cultural Menu Enhancement Pilot is in alignment with our equity and inclusion framework, ensuring that all students feel represented in our programming, regardless of faith or culture. Our goals for this project are first and foremost; engagement of students that are historically unrepresented and an opportunity for cultural celebrations with the school community that lead to greater feelings of inclusion and acceptance. Second, to assist with capacity building by engaging in new dynamic partnerships, strengthening school community connections and providing knowledge translation and resources at the school level allowing student nutrition programs to grow and thrive.
OSNP has partnered with Growing Chefs Ontario, a food literacy and education non-profit organization on this project. Growing Chefs, in collaboration with knowledge keepers and cultural advisors from communities identified by local school boards, develop menu items and literacy resources specific to the identified communities. Literacy resources can be tailored from JK to grade 12 and are designed to provide education and engagement around the menu items provided. The resources include, but are not limited to, information about the culture, a profile of the knowledge keeper, how the food is made, prepared and served and the detailed recipe so that schools can recreate the items on their own. These recipes are created with ingredients that are typically locally sourced and are easily replicable, providing a cost-effective option for all schools in London Middlesex to provide their SNP with a culturally relevant, nutritionally sound menu item that would otherwise be costly if purchased as a prepackaged item.
Currently we are piloting these culturally diverse menu enhancements with two schools in the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) and two schools in the London District Catholic School Board (LDCSB), each an elementary and secondary level. Through the pilot thus far, students have expressed that they feel affirmed by not only their school community but by their peers.
Summer Snack Bags & Frozen Meals (2022)
During the summer of 2022, OSNP utilized a combination of COVID relief funds and donations to provide summer snack bags and fill the gap of student nutrition programs in the summer months. Bags were filled with fresh produce, milk, yogurt, cheese, and whole grain items.
Alongside these summer snack bags, OSNP partnered with GrowingChefs! Ontario to provide frozen nutritious meals for families. Snack bags and frozen meals were available for pickup on Tuesdays in July and August (9 weeks total), and reached a total of 55 families each week.
We hope to continue this program in the future and are looking for sponsors, reach out to Jody or Katherine if you have an interest!
GrowingChefs Fresh Produce Boxes (2022)
GrowingChefs! has partnered with OSNP London-Middlesex to support a number of families associated with White Oaks Public School. They grow and prepare fresh produce bags to be distributed monthly. GrowingChefs! has build and maintains a bountiful Hoop House/Green House at the GrowingChefs! Education Centre at the Western Fair grounds, allowing their produce to rejuvenate and be harvested once a month.
As well, GrowingChefs! prepares 90 Frozen Meal kits to be distributed to both our Summer Snack Bag program, White Oaks families and VON Family Supports families.
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Want to Volunteer?
Email Jody or Katherine with your interest (shopping, preparing, serving, record keeping,
special events, etc.), days/times available, and postal code