A&W has partnered with Hope and Area Transition Society in a special way.
Food security initiative Mealshare partnered with A&W, including the Hope location at 1175 4th Ave., to provide funding for meals locally, combating food insecurity at home and across Canada. Local Mealshare donations will go to support HATS.
“A&W is an amazing organization and a leader in the industry through its many environmental and social initiatives,” Mealshare co-founder Jeremy Bryant said. “The support of A&W restaurants will make a huge impact for Mealshare and all the youth we support across the entire country.”
Each one of the 1,000 A&W locations across Canada are brought together with the goal of providing about 1.2 million meals per year. On Mealshare Mondays, customers can order a Cheddar Bacon Uncle Burger Combo and one meal will be provided to a youth in need. Throughout the entire week, customers can “Make it a Mealshare” by adding $1 to their order to support local Mealshare efforts.
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HATS youth coordinator Bonnie Millward said the partnership is still very new to the area and Canada as a whole, but she is optimistic as to what it could accomplish here at home. Currently, HATS is home to a number of food-based programs, including Learn To Eat, a series of lessons for area youth on eating healthy in budget friendly ways. Since COVID hit, the program has had to migrate from in-person lessons to online. Learn to Eat lesson provides a meal kit and a video recipe via Facebook; the recipes are often based on what is on sale at local grocers and what’s available at the food bank.
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Millward said HATS engages with area youth in need to shape their programming accordingly based on their feedback. Another program HATS is actively engaged in is the Healthy Girls Network, a program geared toward young females and empowering them to resist using alcohol, drugs and other unhealthy coping mechanisms as well as making them aware of being groomed or recruited for gang activity.
HATS has a channel on YouTube with plenty of helpful videos, which can be found by searching Hope and Area Transition Society.
To learn more about the youth programs HATS has to offer, contact Millward at 604-869-5111 or emailing bonnie@hopetransition.org.