A program that delivers lunch packs to schools is helping students to enjoy a meal and better concentrate in the classroom.
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The Salvation Army Tribe Lunch program has resumed delivering packs made up of a sandwich, a snack and a piece of fruit to five schools in Ballarat.
Volunteers make about 140 lunch packs each week that are delivered to the schools on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Mount Pleasant Primary School education support staff member Sarah Cahill said the school approached families who would be suitable for the program, taking the pressure off packing lunch those three days.
"It is an extreme help for the families who are struggling to make sure the children are having a good meal at school," she said.
"The kids love coming to the office to pick them up. Some of the other kids try to get hold of them too.
"If the children are hungry they can't concentrate. Some children may not even have had breakfast, so not having a meal would definitely impact."
If the children are hungry they can't concentrate.
- Sarah Cahill, Mount Pleasant Primary School
This is the third year of the Salvation Army program that is funded through a Ballarat Foundation grant and community donations.
Salvation Army Ballarat team leader John Clonan said the program was well embedded into the schools.
"The feedback has always been positive. We would like to continue the program but it is dependent on funding," he said.
"We are fortunate to have that funding into the third year."
RELATED COVERAGE: Program helps to feed struggling families on weekends
Woodmans Hill Secondary College wellbeing coordinator Saskia Boersma said the program had been a great support to vulnerable families.
"As much as we would have liked to meet that gap, we as a school couldn't fill it on our own," she said.
"It has met that gap and means students have lunch and don't have to go hungry.
"We know if students have eaten lunch that day their brains are better able to function and they are more likely to retain that learning from that day.
"We have seen they are able to concentrate a lot better and they have better energy."
A Foodbank report released in 2018 found five per cent of food insecure children go to school without a packed lunch or lunch money at least once a week.
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