In the Wainfleet and Port Colborne communities ten elementary schools run breakfast programs, to ensure students in need have access to healthy and nutritious meals with which to start the day. It’s hard for young minds to focus on learning when energy is low and stomachs are rumbling.
Meal choices include cereals, protein bars, fruit, and other healthy options. Whatever funds allow is bought in by volunteers, or donated by the communities. Children arrive early to allow them time to eat before the school day proper begins.
The breakfast programs are run in each location by a dedicated group of volunteers. The volunteers are school staff that give freely of their time. They arrive early, unpaid, every day. Other volunteers include students, also arriving early, also unpaid. Sometimes walking, sometimes driven by parents because school buses would arrive too late for breakfast club.
Despite limited resources, these fine people all work together to feed those children in need, every day. That’s community.
Donations
The Port Colborne Optimist Club has been a long time supporter of the breakfast club programs. This year, we donated $500 to each of the ten schools. That was money raised throughout 2025 at our various events and fundraisers. This is one example what we, as a non-profit organization, do with some of your money: We give it away. Thank you to everyone that contributed in any way throughout the year for every dollar and cent, we truly appreciate it. As will those children, and their families.
Pictured above are some of the volunteers of the breakfast clubs in each school, being presented with cheques by Claire, our Treasurer and unsung heroine, who quietly and without fuss gave up a couple of mornings of her own time and a quarter tank of gas to get these cheques delivered.
Claire is representative of our membership. Much of what we do as a team goes on behind the scenes. We like to think we make a small difference in our communities. If you would like to make a difference too, we are always recruiting. CLICK HERE to find out more.
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