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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, September 29, 2016 | 16 `Poverty is here. It's right around the corner from you' "Poverty is here. It's right around the corner from you. We have kids who share a pair of shoes with their parents. We have kids who the father is not around and the mother has some mental issues of her own and then you have two kids, basically taking care of themselves and coming to school with a can of Coke for lunch," she said. Gift card program hands out $34,000 One of the main activities of the foundation is to provide students in need with Walmart gift cards so the students can buy anything they need, from groceries to shoes, toiletries or clothing. From the end of August 2015 to the first week of December 2015, they provided almost 400 students with $34,000. "But what happened today was that we ran out of Walmart cards because the need has been incredibly intense," she said. Mansfield had to convince Walmart staff to override the corporate policy of only selling $500 in gift cards per day; she had to convince them she needed $2,000 worth and that she needed it right then and there to help students heading into the Christmas break. "I felt horrible because the assistant manager started to cry," she said. "It was very emotional." North to Hanover About 200 kilometres north of Halton in the rural town of Hanover, ON, Bev Gateman works out of what used to be a supply closet at the local high school. From her cramped office she, alongside an army of volunteers, is responsible for feeding 12,000 students a day through 73 school breakfast programs under the provincial banner, Ontario Student Nutrition Program. The program offers nutritional meals developed to fit the needs of individual schools and receives about 14 cents per student, per day. "We do as much as we can, but we just don't have enough money. I'm the only paid person in the whole of Grey-Bruce and everybody else volunteers their time," Gateman said. Stigma is lessening Over the years, Gateman said the stigma of poverty has slowly lessened. When she first started in the late '90s, some schools wouldn't let her in because they claimed they did not have children coming to school hungry. Likewise, some parents would not let their children into the breakfast programs. "But your kid is hungry," said Gateman. "So, we stopped hearing from moms and any kid that is hungry is welcome." The key, she said, is that although the programs are aimed directly to combat child hunger, they run under the pretense of nutrition. "We are bringing nutrition into the schools and what kid doesn't need more nutrition?" Many breakfast programs have opened the doors to all students in order to remove any stigma about need. If you're hungry, you can go... and they do. | Metroland Media Lesley Mansfield This little girl was working, she had on her mom's clothes, definitely had on her mom's clothes and she was helping me. She was nervous because I was giving the kids too much food and she was worried there wasn't going to be anything left. Bev Gateman Poverty is here. It's right around the corner from you. We have kids who share a pair of shoes with their parents. We have kids who the father is not around and the mother has some mental issues of her own and then you have two kids, basically taking care of themselves and coming to school with a can of Coke for lunch. Lesley Mansfield Ontario Student Nutrition Program Halton Learning Foundation `They got their food and they were just starving... and people say we shouldn't do this -- are you kidding me?' -- Bev Gateman Ontario Student Nutrition PRogram she said, adding the meals include at least three of the four food groups, including whole grains, dairy, fresh fruit and vegetables. These programs, Gateman said, have a direct impact on students' ability to learn. Impact on learning "If I'm thinking about the last thing I had to eat was last night and you are talking about literacy or about my homework, I am not paying attention. All I am thinking about is my stomach," she said. At one point, Gateman was managing a program that saw high school students prepare hot meals for the elementary school. A nineyear-old girl was helping dish out the food. "This little girl was working, she had on her mom's clothes, definitely had on her mom's clothes and she was helping me," Gateman said. "She was nervous because I was giving the kids too much food and she was worried there wasn't going to be anything left." Gateman told the girl that she should sit down and eat right away. The girl scurried off and got her backpack and pulled out a margarine container that she was supposed to fill to take home before she ate. The girl then asked why her younger brother didn't get to eat. Gateman asked a teacher to bring in her younger brother to eat, as well. "They got their food and they were just starving," she said. "And people say we shouldn't do this -- are you kidding me?"