A partnership to provide weekly after-school meals to students enrolled in the Ignite Academy.
The partnership is between the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County (MCC) and Capri Pizzeria.
Through this partnership, Capri will deliver weekly meals to the students several participating schools, including Immaculate Conception Catholic Elementary School, St. James Catholic Elementary School, Frank W. Begley Public School, and General Brock Public School.
Over 120 students will be fed either pizza or pasta during their after-school programs.
Daniel Beliciu, Director of Programs and Development at the MCC, says they reached out to the community to see who would be interested in helping with the program.
"Immediately we thought of Capri Pizzeria and how they could partner up with us and this program, and provide over 120 kids in the region weekly meals that help them essentially too. So, that's really kind of how it started in terms of this program and working with Capri. The second they took our call they said whatever we needed, they were there to assist."
He says food is fuel to learning.
"Many of these children, they don't have much. They're coming from different situations that, we kind of classify as "at-risk" and so on, and that can mean a lot of different things, but any type of assistance that we can help - not just with the children, but also with the families as well."
Beliciu says the kids absolutely love it.
"We say it's just pizza, but it's more than that. It's fuel, it's the ability for them to get something. We were all kids, understanding that you're hungry after school, to get that extra meal, to get that extra snack, it helps you. It helps you concentrate a little bit more, it helps you focus on your homework after school, and we've seen that this does help."
This initiative will continue throughout the remainder of the 2025 school year.
Ignite Academy is led by United Way Centraide Windsor-Essex Chatham-Kent, and aims to empower local youth by providing students with the tools they need to succeed.
