Meals2Go returns to 2 Brandon schools

Harvest Manitoba has returned to two Brandon schools with its Meals2Go student nutrition program for the 2025–26 school year.

The organization expanded the program to Betty Gibson and King George schools last year. It provided about 600 essential weekend and summer meal kits for students at the schools, the first ones in the Wheat City to be included in the program.

The growing need in schools made the program a necessity, Harvest Manitoba president and CEO Vince Barletta told the Sun on Monday.

“Bags are packed each week at Samaritan House Ministries in Brandon, Harvest’s local food bank partner,” he said. “Between 500 and 600 bags are distributed weekly to students from kindergarten to Grade 8 at the two schools.”

Each kit contains milk, yogurt, cheese, cereal, fruit, carrots and other healthy snacks intended to carry students through the weekend, said Barletta, a former Brandon city councillor.

“We want kids to come back on Monday full of energy and ready to learn,” Barletta said.

The number of bags sent to each school is tied directly to student enrolment, meaning deliveries this year will match or slightly exceed last year’s totals if school populations have grown, he said.

“The need across the province has just continued to grow and grow,” he said. “Support from Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning last year and this year has allowed us to expand into new schools in Winnipeg, two schools in Brandon, one in Opaskwayak and two more coming in Thompson in the new year.”

Barletta said support from donors continues to sustain and strengthen the program.

“We have incredible support from partners like the K&P Talbot Family Foundation, and corporate supporters like Cisco, Cargill, ADM and the Kinsmen Club of Winnipeg,” he said. “With that support and the ingenuity of the community, we’re able to reach new students across Manitoba.”

Rising food prices remain one of the program’s biggest challenges, Barletta acknowledged, but Harvest Manitoba’s purchasing power helps keep the cost of nutritious food manageable.

The weekend kits will continue throughout the school year until June. During the summer months, Harvest runs pop-up distribution sites outside schools to ensure families maintain access to nutritious food, he said.

Barletta said anyone interested in learning more about Meals2Go or Harvest Manitoba’s broader work can visit harvestmanitoba.ca.

“We’re proud of the work we do with Samaritan House in Brandon and across Manitoba,” he said. “It’s heartwarming to see communities come together to make sure students don’t go hungry.”

The weekend meal initiative, which began in 2018 as Breakfast2Go, now reaches 7,000 students each week across 21 schools in Winnipeg, Brandon, Opaskwayak Cree Nation and Thompson.

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