From Boys and Girls Club of Moncton Facebook page.
Kids at the Boys and Girls Club are finding out what goes into making a wholesome meal.
Many of the kids attending the after school program wanted to stay longer to join more activities, so the centre wanted to ensure they all had access to healthy meals.
They recently launched their ‘Cool Fuel‘ program. Executive Director Moncef Lakouas says they teach kids about healthy food items, how to shop for groceries on a budget and how to follow a recipe.
“It’s extremely important that we all have to understand, even as adults, that doing groceries on a budget makes so much more sense and is much more cost-effective than when you go there and you’re hungry and just want to eat everything,” he says.
They also head out in teams with 50 to 100 dollar gift cards to get the things they need to make a recipe.
“They’re going, they’re asking questions, looking at tickets, at the ingredients and prices. They get the cash so they’re making sure they don’t go over. So they’re making healthy decisions based on what they need for a recipe and it will eventually help them later on as adults,” says Lakouas.
He says given the frightening reports on childhood obesity in the province, they want to help create habits that will carry into adulthood.
So far between 30 and 40 kids benefit from the program daily but Lakouas expects the number could eventually grow to 60.
