As a father, Rob Giordano said he has worries about making sure his own five-year-old with a dairy allergy has the right food to eat .
The owner of Newmarket construction company TCS Group, Giordano said he was shocked hearing stories of kids going hungry at local schools. It was a story shared among office members, many of whom are parents, Giordano said.
Vice-president Sandy Cestra said it's incomprehensible to her that local children do not have enough to eat.
“There’s no reason why any child in this day and age, in this country, should be hungry. There’s no reason for that,” Cestra said.
TCS Group is hoping to inspire others to help put an end to child hunger. After two years of pushing forward a successful lunch program at Maple Leaf Public School, the business hopes to share that model elsewhere and inspire others to help kids going to school hungry.
In 2022, Giordano said they partnered with the Newmarket Food Pantry to provide school lunches to kids in need. That started Project Lunch Blag, with volunteers preparing lunches for students to take on the go, no strings attached.
“It was like a full day’s worth of food,” Giordano said of the beginning of the concept. “If they’re feeding the people that were struggling for breakfast, snacks, you know lunch, then at least the parents could save that money. Maybe use it for a gas bill, or to pay for dinner, stuff like that and let’s take the burden off of those families.”
Advocates have said school nutrition programs and efforts need more funding, with third parties often called on to help make up the gap. The Coalition for Health School Food has pushed for a national program for school meals for years. The federal government included the creation of a National School Food Program with an investment of $1 billion over five years in its 2024 budget. But deals remain to be signed with provinces, and the federal government has not yet fully rolled out the funding.
For now, Project Lunch Bag has worked well at Maple Leaf Public School, TCS Group said. Maple Leaf Public School is notably located in the Newmarket Heights neighbourhood, an area documented as having lower-than-average income levels and a target of increased social support.
The TCS Group funds the initiative, Giordano said, providing the Newmarket Food Pantry what it needs to make the lunches. The business started making the lunches themselves, but the food pantry got enough volunteers over time, Giordano said.
“You will never know the full impact of your contribution to our school,” Maple Leaf Public School staff said in a message provided by TCS Group. “Many students come to school a little less anxious because they knew there was always food that they could have. We had a massive increase in participation in all areas of our nutrition program, we were really feeling the pinch. Then you came along and partnered with us and allowed us to meet all of the needs we were seeking. There were many times this year when we were able to offer a family the security of lunches when they were in a very tough situation. We would not have been able to do it without you.”
TCS Group vice-president Joseph Giordano, Rob’s brother, said this is a concept they would like to see taken to other schools and are hoping that other community partners and businesses might be willing to step up and make it happen.
“If it’s happening at this school, it’s happening in other schools,” he said. “We can’t help everyone and anyone, but we’re asking other people to take the concept and see how they can be involved … No kid should be hungry.”
