About Food For Thought Lanark County

• Mission, Vision, Our Guiding Principles and Our Primary Goals

Our History

March 2001 The North Lanark Community Health Centre agreed to develop a Breakfast for Learning Community Partnership Program. This model was to encourage communities to build on the willingness of schools, local people, organizations and business to ensure that every child attends school well nourished and ready to learn.

A group of forward thinking, action oriented leaders formed the inaugural Food For Thought Steering Committee. We soon learned that many people wanted to help and so began Food For Thought in Lanark County.

We immediately realized that the support of parents, caregivers, school staff and the community are essential to the success of our student nutrition programs. We realized that nutrition programs would not happen without the commitment of dedicated volunteers. We discovered that one of our greatest assets would be the school site coordinators.

Over the years, Food For Thought has hosted special occasions, organized fundraising events, and celebrated many accomplishments.

Food For Thought is a shining example of how people who care passionately about nourishing children and youth at school can reach a common goal.

With your help, we can continue to work to ensure our children and youth have the nourishment they need to learn, grow and thrive!

As shown in the graph below, we have experienced a significant growth in the number of programs being offered, the number of meals and snacks being provided to students and the increase of volunteers and the hours that they give to run the programs.

 

School Year	Number of Schools	Number of Programs	Meals/Snacks Served	Number of Students	Number of Volunteers	Volunteer Hours
2001-2002	13	14	49,200		93	4,600
2002-2003	18	21	89,519		177	5,115
2003-2004	22	29	78,200		262	6,300
2004-2005	23	27	74,869		234	7,000
2005-2006	32	45	101,149	3,264	275	12,825
2006-2007	33	62	290,925	5,286	283	10,000
2007-2008	35	65	271,947	4,573	338	8,528
2008-2009	35	69	349,003	5,474	420	11,230
2009-2010	35	66	291,472	5,504	432	15,597
2010-2011	35	78	289,911	5,697	471	9,223
2011-2012	35	72	275,261	5,584	564	12,820
2012-2013	34	73	308,334	5,495	526	15,627
2013-2014	35	74	373,333	6,006	553	14,532
2014-2015	37	82	447,382	6,296	705	15,549
2015-2016	37	86	462,430	6,641	681	16,524
2016-2017	37	80	513,445	7,036	601	18,575
Total	37		4,266,380			184,045

Steering Committee

The Food For Thought Steering Committee provides strategic direction for the Partnership. The committee develops, evaluates and revises program policies; develop and monitor the progress of work plans; and identifies mechanisms for sustainability of the Partnership. The grant review committee is responsible for determining equitable funding allocations to each participating school. The committee ensures all requirements of the Lead Agency are complete.

Food For Thought Local Planning Partnership Membership  2025-2026

Jan Smith (Chair) Retired Teacher, former SNP School Site Coordinator

Tawny Boileau - School Health Coordinator, South East Health Unit

Rober Butterworth - Retired Lawyer, Community Volunteer

Sarah Burris - Senior Public Health Inspector, South East Health Unit

Stacie Dowdall - Principal, Upper Canada District School Board

Lynda Johnston - Trustee, Upper Canada District School Board

Selina Mackie - Mental Health Lead Strategist,

                          Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario

Tania Mason - Retired Teacher, Community Volunteer

Kara Symbolic - Community Programs and Communications Coordinator,

                            ConnectWell Community Health

Pascal Michaud - Principal, Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario

Support Personnel (nov-voting)

Kerri Cooper - Regional Coordinator for the HPE Learning Foundation

Cherie Hardie - Food & Logistics Coordinator, South East Region

Dianne Stroud - Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator, Food For Thought

Sharon Bjergso - Community Development Coordinator, Food For Thought