It was a scramble to play Scrabble across many Richmond elementary schools on Thursday as 20 works yard employees took to their motorcycles with a Richmond RCMP escort and handed out letters to delighted students.
The "Breakfast Scramble" was organized to raise awareness for breakfast clubs across the school district. The clubs offer morning nourishment to children but also provide leadership and volunteer opportunities for kids.
Driving to 14 different schools in a matter of just a few hours, Mike Beausoleil, general manager of maintenance and operations, said the scramble also provided an opportunity for kids and workers to become more familiar with one another.
"A lot of the guys at the works yard ride motorcycles. We wanted to raise awareness of the works yard and increase interactions with children. We thought it was just a nice thing to do. Breakfast is important and it's good for the kids to have this service provided," said Beausoleil.
The first stop was Thompson elementary school, where Matthew Smith was handed the letters Y,R,B,S,I,E, O. Three vowels and aY is a moderate challenge for anyone and Smith and his leadership group had until the afternoon to come up with a word using a board that already had "Breakfast Scrabble Club" spelled out.
Thomas Kidd elementary took home the first place plaque, scoring 109 points with the word "Doze."
Smith, part of his school's Me to We leadership group, said he likes the breakfast club because it's "a volunteer thing and also provides leadership opportunities."
Thompson principal Derek Cherry said more than 80 kids attend the club every Friday to play games in the gym and chow down on fruit, toast, milk and juice.
"It's about building connections and, of course, it provides a great start to the day," said Cherry.
Retired district administrator Glenn Kishi said 16 schools run breakfast programs in the city and he estimates they require about $20,000 a year, combined, to keep them going. The clubs vary in terms of direct need for food and goals pertaining to leadership.
"When you tell people that there are kids going hungry and using breakfast clubs they usually don't believe it because it seems like an affluent community," said Kishi.
In December 2012, just before his retirement, Kishi started the program Feed-U-Cate to organize fundraising and awareness for the programs.
"The community really stepped up," said Kishi.
