summerlunch+
Growing great kids
Our Mission.
Our mission at summerlunch+ is to grow great kids with our comprehensive cooking and nutrition education program where the child drives positive lifestyle changes within the family home.
Our impact.
Over the past seven years, we set out to address summer learning loss, and improve overall health, cooking skills and nutrition knowledge! Since we shifted to our new mode of program delivery in 2020, we’ve been able to reach more children and families!
servings of nutritious meals and snacks
250,000
4,500
children reached
staff hired through Canada Summer Jobs grants with a focus on employment opportunities in neighbourhoods where we operate
120
45
fruit trees planted throughout Thorncliffe: Toronto’s first urban orchard
of fresh produce grown and distributed through partner gardens
40,000
hours of food literacy programming delivered to kids
6,500 lbs
Nutrition Education
What we do.
Nutrition education teaches kids how to make informed food choices that nourish the body and the mind most of the time.
Food Literacy
Food literacy includes: knowing about food, having food skills, feeling confident about food, and making healthier decisions most of the time.
Build Food Skills
Food skills are the ability to do basic kitchen skills like chopping, mixing, measuring ingredients and how to read and follow recipes to prepare meals.
Why it matters.
Building food skills and healthy habits in childhood creates life-long healthy eating habits.
The practice of home cooking is declining and is now rarely taught in school.
1 in 5 children in Canada live in a household that has experienced some level of food insecurity.
Our supporters.
What Folks Are Saying!
“We had an amazing time, thank you so much for such a well organized program. We learned so much! One of our biggest takeaways was that cooking together really got her to eat all kinds of new things. Because she prepared it, she ate it and munched on some yummy vegetables along the way. This is an experience we will take with us! Thank you!”
— Community Member, SickKids x SL+ at Home Program.
“The idea of engaging young kids in a cooking course through covid was a very useful way to keep them preoccupied. It also lets you complete the activities asynchronously, which gives time for families to work at their own pace during their busy schedules.”
— Community Member, SickKids x SL+ at Home Program.
“Thank you for all the amazing and new recipes you guys introduced to us. We’ve always enjoyed bringing a new bag of ingredients home with us each week.”
— Community Member, SickKids x SL+ at Home Program.