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Eat for Education Equality Tonight

Inner-city schools don't have deep fundraising pockets. Local restaurants to the rescue!

Katie Hyslop 2 May 2012TheTyee.ca

Katie Hyslop reports on youth issues and education for The Tyee Solutions Society.

This article was produced by Tyee Solutions Society in collaboration with Tides Canada Initiatives (TCI). TCI neither influences nor endorses the particular content of TSS' reporting. Other publications wishing to publish this story or other Tyee Solutions Society-produced articles, please see this website for contacts and information.

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Generous helping: Two dozen Vancouver area restaurants are donating some of their profits tonight to four inner-city schools for extras.

Concerned about public education funding in Vancouver and the North Shore? Put your money where your mouth is just by eating out tonight.

The second Eat for Education fundraiser has 24 restaurants in Vancouver and North Vancouver donating a percentage of today's profits to local schools. Last year's funds paid for resources like a SMART Board and field trips for Mount Pleasant Elementary.

For some it's a political move, fighting back against what they see as gross underfunding of the public system. Others say it's simply supplementing what the district already provides.

But for everyone it's a chance to dine out without a guilty conscience.

Second course of funding by foodies

Eat for Education is the brainchild of Jackie Ingram, parent of an eight-year-old son at Mount Pleasant Elementary in Vancouver. Ingram suggested the idea as a Parent Advisory Council (PAC) fundraiser last year.

Using her resources as a food blogger -- she and her husband run the BC Foodie website -- Ingram convinced nine restaurants to donate a percentage of their profits from one day to Mount Pleasant. They raised $2,100, which went towards purchasing a SMART Board and paying for field trips.

"They can rent the school bus and go together on a coach rather than have to walk to bus stops and hop around town on buses with a class full of 23 five year-olds," Ingram explains.

This year 24 restaurants are donating a percentage of their profits to four schools. Three Vancouver schools -- Mount Pleasant, Simon Fraser, and Florence Nightingale -- will split a percentage of the profits from 19 restaurants in the Main and Cambie region. Lynn Valley Elementary in North Vancouver will get 100 per cent of the profits from five nearby restaurants.

"Everybody should be concerned about the lack of funding (for schools). And this fundraiser that we're running is because I think it's gotten to the stage where parents really have to be so involved in their education, not just nurturing via homework, but playing an active role in the schools," Ingram told The Tyee.

"Like it or not, that's what we've come to."

Inner-city dishing

Each participating Vancouver school has been designated as inner city by the school district. The North Vancouver District does not label their schools as inner city.

There is no Ministry of Education definition of inner city to follow. Instead the Vancouver School Board (VSB) bases their designations on information from the Vancouver Police Department, Vancouver Coastal Health, City of Vancouver, and Statistics Canada. Some of the factors considered include crime incidences per 1,000 people, cost of living to income ratio, and the number of single parents and immigrant families in the area.

According to VSB Chair Patti Bacchus, schools are facing extra cost pressures to deal with the effects of a high cost of living combined with a high poverty rate.

"We have more and more pressure on schools, everything from meal programs to providing emotional and physical support, medical support and referrals -- increasing demands on schools that are not funded by the province," says Bacchus.

Government hasn't been keeping up with increasing school costs for resources, either, says Bacchus, and charities and PACs have been picking up the slack. Campaigns like the Vancouver Sun's Adopt-A-School and donations from corporations like CIBC-Woody Guthrie and Telus provide for everything from breakfast programs to warm coats to computers.

"We talk about charity versus justice and we rely increasingly on the very good will, and I think there's always been support for schools that have come from parents and communities, but in the past it's been more to supplement budgets. It's now become something we rely on," says Bacchus.

Compliments of the community

In an article for OpenFile, a representative for the Ministry of Education said the province does not provide extra funding for Vancouver's inner-city schools. But they do provide funding through their CommunityLINK programs for supports like school lunches and child and youth workers. This year's amount was $51 million split amongst all the districts.

Sue Stevenson, vice principal for Mount Pleasant Elementary, doesn't see PAC fundraising such as Eat for Education as replacing government funding.

"(The) district covers as much as it possibly can, and then we want to make it better," she told The Tyee.

"I would say we're just trying to give our kids even more opportunities than they would normally have."

Free drinks at the Locus

It's not uncommon for districts to fundraise for technology like SMART Boards. Last years parents in the North Vancouver District raised $40,000 to purchase 12 of the interactive white boards for Montroyal elementary.

What Bacchus, Ingram, and Stevenson can agree on, however, is an appreciation for the restaurants involved.

"For those restaurants that have said yes, every single person appreciates them, the principals of all the schools do," says Ingram.

This is the first year The Locus Restaurant and Bar will be participating. Owner Fredrick Miller says the event will coincide with an art opening at the restaurant, which could mean the five per cent he's donating to the schools will go a long way.

"It's going to be extremely busy. Because we give away free drinks that night as well," Miller told The Tyee, adding the restaurant will have menu specials for the fundraiser, too.

"I want to be involved in the community and I'm trying to help as best as I can. The whole Main Street-Mount Pleasant community thing, I'm just trying to do my part."

Restaurant owner Nigel Pike participated in the first Eat for Education last year, donating 10 per cent from his restaurant Latitude. This year he has four restaurants and all will be contributing 10 per cent of their profits from tomorrow night.

"I have two sons in school, I know the hardships they're going through with all the cuts to education right now. And the fact that the teachers have to put in so much money out of their own pocket in order to just get basic supplies," says Pike, whose two sons attend Simon Fraser Elementary.

"We're pleased to support E for Education and look forward to being able to grow in the future, having more restaurants participating."

It's already growing from the school side: Queen Alexandra and Graham D. Elementary Schools have already told Ingram they plan to participate next year.  [Tyee]

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