Feed The Children - School Lunch Program

Donations are appreciated: CLICK HERE

Please consider joining the School Lunch Program team:  yet@beitrayim.org

  הַכָּרַת הַטּוֹב  (Hakarat HaTov… recognizing the good) to our School Lunch Team!

Since November 2024, Beit Rayim Synagogue’s Feed the Children School Lunch Program has been making a remarkable impact in York Region schools. What began with one public school has grown into a thriving initiative now serving three schools, providing 150 nutritious lunches every week to students who arrive without food. To date, the program has proudly prepared and delivered over 2,000 lunches—and the numbers continue to grow.

This work is both meaningful and essential. According to Statistics Canada, one in five children in Canada experiences some level of food insecurity, meaning that thousands of students across the country come to school without enough to eat. The Feed the Children program is helping to close that gap—one healthy, caring meal at a time.

Each lunch bag includes a bagel with cream cheese, two fresh vegetables, two fruits, and containers of hummus and ranch dressing, ensuring every child receives a balanced and satisfying meal to support their learning and well-being.

The response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive. Volunteers have stepped forward in large numbers to prepare, pack, and deliver lunches, and the program has even welcomed a group of special needs high school students to assist with food preparation—providing them with valuable skills and a sense of purpose. For many volunteers, this mitzvah offers a meaningful way to connect with others and give back in a tangible, uplifting way.

Teachers and school administrators have expressed deep appreciation for the program’s impact, noting improvements in students’ focus and participation. The children themselves are genuinely grateful for the care put into each meal.

The program’s success has not gone unnoticed—other schools are now reaching out, eager to bring this initiative to their students as well.

Beit Rayim Synagogue is deeply proud of the Feed the Children School Lunch Program, which reflects our core Jewish values of chesed (kindness), kehillah (community), and tikkun olam (repairing the world). Together, we are proving that with compassion, teamwork, and hope, even a simple lunch can help change lives

Thank you to What A Bagel (Rutherford Market Place), National Produce and FreshCo (Rutherford) for their generosity.