This summer, 1,000 kids will spend time swimming, playing sports, learning and connecting with great role models through free summer day camps hosted by Winnipeg Aboriginal Sport Achievement Centre (WASAC).
Fortifying them for active days are two healthy snacks and lunch, provided by the organization.
Thanks to support from The Winnipeg Foundation’s Nourishing Potential Fund, WASAC is able to provide fresh, nutritious food and help participants learn about healthy options and the environmental impact of their food choices.
Digging in to healthy snacks at WASAC summer camp.
“Many of the youth we serve come from disadvantaged backgrounds and do not get the nutrition they require,” says Trevor LaForte, WASAC’s Executive Director.
“This grant allows them to do that. By having healthy nutrition choices, the youth are energetic, vibrant and full of positive enthusiasm. Another big difference this grant makes is that it introduces many of our youth to nutritional choices they may not have had previously.”
WASAC is one of more than 70 groups that has benefited from Nourishing Potential grants since the program was launched in 2011. To date, The Winnipeg Foundation has distributed more than $885,000 through the fund.
Youth leaders preparing food for WASAC summer camp.
In addition to fresh fruit and veggies, the support also allows WASAC’s youth leaders to obtain food-handling certification, which expands their job and career options, says LaForte. For some, it’s a new skill to add to a resume, but one WASAC youth leader was so inspired by preparing food for participants, it led to enrollment in the Culinary Arts program at Red River College.
LaForte wants donors to know the impact their gifts to the fund have on Winnipeg kids.
“Many people take for granted the ability to make healthy, nutritious choices,” says LaForte. “These generous grants give many of our youth food, education and introduces them to a variety of things they would not have if not for the commitment of the donors [to Nourishing Potential].”
Jonathan Toews helps WASAC youth leaders prepare a healthy snack.
NHL star Jonathan Toews, himself a donor, recently visited WASAC as part of his role as ambassador for the Nourishing Potential Fund. Toews is part of a campaign this summer to help build the fund to $5 million.
From now until Labour Day, people can support the Nourishing Potential Fund online at www.wpgfdn.org, in person at the Foundation office or any branch of Assiniboine Credit Union, or by texting GOAL to 45678.
