KEEP KIDS FED AT HOME

KEEP KIDS FED AT HOME is the current name of the former Food4Kids Guelph program, a Rotary-inspired charity that was launched in 2018, supported by all four Rotary Clubs of Guelph. After six years, this program had grown to supporting 500 local children with weekend food, 52 weeks a year.
 
For the program's longterm sustainability, and to allow it to keep going and keep growing, it was transferred to the Children's Foundation of Guelph and Wellington on July 1, 2024.  This was in line with Rotary's practice of initiating solutions and eventually handing them over to others for long term continuation.
 
Upon handover, and for legal reasons, the Food4Kids Guelph program name was changed to KEEP KIDS FED AT HOME.
 
Joining forces with the Children's Foundation was the perfect solution because they already had decades of experience in coordinating the local Food & Friends in-school programs, and they had the  infrastructure and capacity to add the weekend and holiday food program to their portfolio.  At the time of merging, the former Food& Friends program was also renamed, to KEEP KIDS FED AT SCHOOL. 
 
Our community is fortunate to now have this overarching KEEP KIDS FED program, supporting all kids AT SCHOOL and kids with higher needs AT HOME.  
 
 
 
About the Keep Kids Fed At Home program
 
When families are struggling to make ends meet, even for basic needs such as providing adequate food for their children, community support makes a world of difference. 
 
During school terms, the Keep Kids Fed At Home program provides weekend food bags for children from severely food-insecure homes, referred by their schools. The goal is to close the weekend gap for the children who depend on getting some free food at school Monday to Friday (breakfast and snack programs) but who often struggle through weekends when they go home to sparse cupboards and fridges. Keep Kids Fed At Home delivers nutritious food bags to their schools on a Friday, where staff discreetly hand out the food bags to be taken home for the weekend. 
 
When schools are closed, Keep Kids Fed At Home sends regular grocery gift cards to families to help with their purchase of food. 
 

How This Program Began at Rotary

(retained here for our historical archives)