What are Starfish Packs and why do they exist?
The Starfish Pack Program started as a pilot project with 6 backpacks as a response to an Abbotsford teacher’s cry for help. She was feeding many of her Kindergarten students who were coming to school on Monday hungry. The hunger was affecting their moods and their ability to focus in class. This was not just an Abbotsford problem.
Many students across the province rely on school breakfast and lunch programs to fill their tummy’s on school days. When it comes to the weekend, they don’t have the food they need. Starfish Pack was designed to help change that. Starfish provides packs of 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners, and snacks to hungry students each weekend of the school year.
Teachers have reported improvements in children’s reading skills, math skills, ability to focus and to do partner work. Starfish has now expanded to over 21 cities and is helping make sure children across BC and Whatcom County don’t have to worry about weekend hunger. If you would like to learn more about a specific location, please click the locations button at the top of the screen and select which city you would like to learn more about.
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How it Works
Each week, volunteers fill packs with 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 2 dinners, and snacks and then deliver the packs to local schools for students to take home for weekend.
5 menus, designed in collaboration with a nutritionist, are rotated to provide a variety of nutritious foods to students each month. Each menu is kid-friendly, simple to prepare, shelf stable, and discreetly packed.
Depending on the price of groceries in each community, it costs approximately:
$25 to fill one student’s Starfish pack for one weekend
$110 to fill one student’s Starfish pack for one month
$850 to fill one student’s Starfish pack for one year
An example of some of the items in a Starfish pack include*
Breakfast
- Cereal and shelf stable milk
- Fruit and peanut butter
- Fresh bread: sliced whole grain bread, english muffins, naan, tortillas, etc.
Lunch/Dinner
- Grains: pasta, rice, gnocchi, etc.
- Ready to eat meals: boxed mac and cheese, instant noodles, prepared rice, etc.
- Seasonal produce: 4-5 types of local, rotating fruits and vegetables
- Protein: canned beans, canned tuna, peanut butter, etc.
- Sauces: tomato sauce, pizza sauce, herb dressing, etc.
Snacks
- Veggie snacks, protein bars, roasted nut and bean mix, apple sauce pouches, seed butters, etc.
*exact items in Starfish packs depend on location, availability, and menu
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Bring Starfish to your city
Interested in bringing Starfish to your city? Each of our locations is run independently but follow the same guidelines. To become a Starfish Pack location, you will need to partner with a local charity to be able to accept donations, issue tax receipts and pay for the food and backpacks. You will also need a group of dedicated volunteers who will collect the backpacks, pack the backpacks and deliver the backpacks all school year. You will also need a volunteer willing to order the food each week. Once these things are in place, please contact us to give you the rest of the details of how to be included on the website and officially get your program started!
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