Brentwood Supports Nourish Cowichan

10 November 2023Suhana V, Alex ‘24

Canada remains the only G7 nation without a national school food program and so Nourish Cowichan was established to provide love and support for school children who do not have access to enough food.

Nourish Cowichan, a non-profit organization, started in 2016 when they provided food to one school, but over the years they have been able to expand to 21 schools. Nourish Cowichan focuses on sending out bags of food twice a week that are filled with items such as cereal, pasta and soup. Unfortunately, there is a growing demand for these food bags as last year 1200 students were in need, but today we face a startling number of 1600.

With these numbers, we can imagine the vast amount of manual labor needed. Therefore, every week, three groups of students from Brentwood have been attending Nourish Cowichan where they volunteer with the food preparation. Abby, Alex ‘25 was surprised to see how “people in our own community are in such constraints”. She also felt a sense of gratitude that she has the opportunity to volunteer. The same sentiment is echoed across the student body when Abbheir G, Privett ‘25 “appreciates the work done by Nourish Cowichan and how giving back to the community through acts of kindness is rewarding to both parties.”

Challenges are a constant within this program and every day worry shifts from one focus to another. Distribution of food in bags is a prime example. They may not be the most efficient method, but it is the best Nourish Cowichan can do with their current financial constraints. Money addresses a myriad of expenses, a major one being storage. From last year’s donations, a third of the money was used to buy a freezer in order to keep up with the escalating production of food.

Toluwani A, Alex ‘24 explains how this growing demand “is of concern as Nourish would eventually want a long-term solution that is sustainable for every child”. As an organization, they are doing the best they can and are constantly finding innovative methods to help the Cowichan Community. Their work amounts to great sacrifice and determination which, in turn, is supporting thousands of children each year in our community.

Suhana V, Alex ‘24

Where Students Choose To Be