FAQs

1. How are students selected for the program?

Students are recommended to the program by teachers and school administrators who have the closest relationships with the students. 

2. What types of food do children receive?

The contents of bags vary depending on the location, age and demographics of the school. Typical items include fresh fruits such as apples and bananas, fresh vegetables and dried goods such as rice, beans, pasta, granola bars and cereal.  

3. How do I enroll my child in the program?

Please contact your school administration to inquire if Isthmus is in your school.  

4. How do I enroll my school in the program?

Please contact info@isthmus.ca.  

5. Can I donate specifically to the Isthmus program in my community? 

Yes. However, we support extremely hungry children across the country who come to us with a high urgency to receive food. It makes a huge difference if you do not restrict your donation to a specific community as it allows us to focus on feeding the children with the very highest needs first. 

6. How many students do you feed?

Over 2,000. 

7. Do you accept food, backpack/lunchbox donations or food drives?

Unfortunately, we are unable to accept food donations, backpack or lunchbox donations. The safety and health of all of the children in our program is our greatest concern, and our wholesale partnerships allow us to control and monitor the quality and freshness of all food that is distributed to students. With food drives, we are unable to control whether food is tainted or expired, and for liability reasons we are unable to take those risks.

As well, we are unable to accept donations of items like toys/clothing/lunchboxes that fall outside of our charitable mandate due to CRA requirements.

8. How can you feed a child all year on the weekends for only $120? 

We have a national wholesale food distribution partnership that allows us to source high quality food for a substantial discount and stretch donor dollars to feed more children.