Helping kids go far since 1989
President's Choice Children's Charity is an independent, registered Canadian charity. Our dual purpose is to remove hunger as a barrier for a happy life, and to educate children about food and nutrition. With the support of Loblaw stores, colleagues, vendors and millions of customers, our national signature program, Power Full Kids, reaches children and youth in approximately 1,100 communities everyday – during school and all summer.
2021 Annual ReportIn a country as prosperous as Canada, no child should experience hunger.
We believe we have a vital role to play, providing good food to many of the million Canadian children who live with food insecurity, every day.
Read more about how we’re ensuring that Canadian children are well-fed and ready to learn in our Annual Report.
In 1989, a happy 6-year-old, who we're calling Jane to protect her privacy, fell ill and was hospitalized. Her family was unprepared to accommodate her physical challenges at home, and it looked like Jane would be spending the holidays in her hospital bed.
When news of Jane's situation became public, a Loblaw colleague knew he could help. That December, Loblaw colleagues and vendors assembled to bowl for Jane, and because of their generosity, a new hospital bed installed in the family’s home and Jane was home for the holidays. What they couldn’t have imagined, was this would be the first Bowlerama – an event now more than 30 years old, raising $1 million annually for children across Canada.
The spirit of this gesture inspired Loblaw Companies Ltd. to create Kids You Can Count On Us – a charity that in 2000 would be incorporated as, President’s Choice Children’s Charity.
Since that first Bowlerama in 1989, President’s Choice Children’s Charity has invested more than $200 million to nurture the well-being of 6 million children. For almost 30 years, the charity ensured that a child’s disability was never a barrier for living their best life. But as the prevalence of hunger in our communities grew, President’s Choice Children’s Charity made the difficult decision to focus 100% of the charity’s investments on the issue of childhood hunger. The team had come to know the families who had benefitted from the charity personally, many of whom also struggled with food insecurity. The prevalence of hunger in our schools, plus the knowledge that many teachers pay out of pocket to feed their most vulnerable students, created a sense of urgency and awareness that hunger impacts more than a million children and youth across Canada.
In 2018, Loblaw committed $150 million of fundraising and corporate support for the charity’s effort to address childhood hunger and nutrition skills. Since then, the company has activated its network of stores, customers, vendors and colleagues, raising more than $66 million. This makes the charity Canada’s largest private provider to school food programs.
Looking ahead, President’s Choice Children’s Charity is exploring the issue of childhood hunger for the public good. Our research partnership with The Lawson Centre for Childhood Nutrition at the University of Toronto – Feeding Kids Nourishing Minds – is a first of its kind, National study of the impact of school meal programs of learning and best practices for delivery. The results of the study will be shared publicly and help President’s Choice Children’s Charity make evidence based decisions and inform future program design.