Child Nutrition Council of Manitoba hosts 13th annual Stone Soup Week

Child Nutrition Council of Manitoba hosts their 13th annual stone soup fundraiser this week to help support school food programs.

“It raises money for school nourishment programs that the Child Nutrition Council supports but it also raises awareness about the importance of school nutrition, school meals and supporting children,” said Joyce Slater, board member of Child Nutrition Council of Manitoba.

Nearly 50 restaurants across Manitoba are participating in the Child Nutrition Council of Manitoba’s annual stone soup fundraiser and one dollar from each bowl of soup sold will go to charity.

“I love that the restaurant community has come together to support such an important cause in our community,” said Vicky Sartor, co-owner of Calabria Market.

“Child nutrition it’s just so important, it effects everybody, and I look for the email every year to sign up and we’ve never not signed up we just really enjoy supporting them,” said Jay Kilgour, owner of Fionns Grant Park.

The child nutrition council of Manitoba partners with over 400 schools across the province, supporting an average of 64,000 children per day through the school’s meal and snack programs.

“The support that they give to schools, the workshops that they run, everything they do to provide some nutritional expertise in schools is really important,” said Erin Harris, teacher at École Salisbury Morse Place School.

“Food prices have gone up so that’s impacting families but that’s also impacting the schools that put on the nourishment programs,” said Slater.

The funds raised during stone soup week go directly to school meal and snack programs and with an increased demand from students, schools say fundraisers like this are critical.

“Everybody is seeing a bit of a hit when it comes to food costs in our province,” said Harris.

The participating restaurants can be found on the Child Nutrition Council’s website with the fundraiser running until Saturday.