Bulldogs pitch in to support school nutrition programs affected by COVID 19

For many children, especially in the city core, school means more than education, it’s also a chance to get a nutritious breakfast, they otherwise would not receive. For many years the Hamilton Bulldogs Foundation has provided cash support to the breakfast program. With school’s closed across Hamilton, so are the school breakfast programs that many families rely on. Still, there is another nutrition program that will continue despite the crisis. Food4Kids provides packages of healthy food for kids aged 4-17 years with limited or no access to food each weekend. The food packages are assembled by volunteers and delivered to schools each Friday to ensure children have nourishment over the weekend.  There are 1,300 children in Hamilton struggling through each weekend without food. This week the Hamilton Bulldogs’ Foundation is donating $50K to Food4Kids plan to give families grocery gift cards, during the time of schools being closed to help support the families who are part of the program.

“The Bulldogs’ Foundation has been supporting Hamilton’s high needs schools for a decade, feeding students a nutritious meal. With schools closed for the near future, we felt it important to ensure those children who need it most, will continue getting the food they need,” said Michael Andlauer, Bulldogs’ Foundation Chair, and owner of the Hamilton Bulldogs. “When we discovered Food4Kids would be delivering grocery gift cards to families with children from those schools, we knew this would be the quickest way to make a difference and continue supporting those young people during this unprecedented time locally and internationally.”

Said Hamilton Wentworth District School Board Education Director Manny Figueiredo, “we know that some of our most financially vulnerable students will be most affected by the closure of schools. HWDSB is grateful that during these unprecedented times, the generous donation from the Bulldogs will further enable Food4Kids to continue to support students and their families. Our commitment as a community to students does not end at the school doors. This is a time when it is so important for our community to come together to ensure that students remain nourished, happy and healthy.”

“We are extremely grateful to Michael Andlauer and the Bulldogs Foundation for their very generous donation which will ensure that our most vulnerable students and their families continue to receive support during the shutdown,” said HWCDSB Chairperson Patrick J. Daly. “At a time when many organizations are focused on the impacts of the pandemic on their own operations, kindnesses such as this are not only noteworthy but heartwarming.”