The Saskatoon and District Labour Council kicked off its 25th annual summer snack program on Friday.
The program provides daily free-of-charge lunches to inner-city kids throughout the summer months at Pleasant Hill, Westmount, Optimist, Confederation, Meadow Green and A.H. Brown parks.
SDLC President Kelly Harrington says it is necessary to recognize not all of Saskatoon’s citizens are sharing equally in the province’s booming economy and this is why the unionized sector is doing its part to make life a little easier on some of the city’s children and their families.
“When we see inequities there and injustices, like children going hungry in a city and a province that’s in an economic boom, we want to fill the need that’s there and do it in a way that’s respectful to the children in the program and their parents, if they choose to utilize it, and for some of those kids it’s about giving them choices,” she says.
Harrington says the summer program is also made possible through contributions of the United Way, City of Saskatoon and local businesses.
It is estimated the program serves lunches to about 2,500 kids over the course of a summer.
The SDLC has hired three full-time and one part-time coordinator to administrator the lunch program.