Yspaniola Food Program
Since Fall 2015, Yspaniola has administered a Food Program for students at our Learning Center and Preschool. Since establishing our Los Mina Sur program, we have also instituted a food program there. We provide healthy snacks like oatmeal, cereal, juice, and sandwiches before classes begin to support learning and incentivize class attendance. We also offer potable water in reusable cups because we recognize that our students have limited access to clean drinking water.
EVERY CHILD
should be able to grow healthy and happy, and that includes fair access to nutritious food.
This food program emerged in response to Batey Libertad’s key challenges. In Batey Libertad, many parents work informal, irregular jobs and cannot provide nutritious, healthy meals for their children daily. Some days, students arrive at our classrooms without breakfast and are unsure when they will eat their next meal. Yspaniola’s Food Program aims to curb food insecurity for our preschoolers and incentivize daily attendance at our classes. Providing a daily snack is valuable for our students and their parents alike.
Yspaniola wants to ensure that the youngest learners in Batey get the best possible start to their first school year and continue on that path in the years after. According to the World Food Program, food initiatives have been proven to improve access to education. They encourage families to keep children in school, boosting learning, specifically literacy acquisition (WFP, 2020).
