One of the major hotel owners on Anguilla, Mr. Richard Schulze, has contributed over three hundred thousand US dollars to the School Lunch Programme on the island.
The Programme was officially launched on Wednesday 12th April, 2023, at the Alwyn Allison Primary School in West End.
During the ceremony it was announced that the owner of the Aurora Anguilla Resort and Gulf Club, Mr. Richard Schulze had made available a generous amount of US$350,000 for a year to provide lunch for children attending the six public primary schools on island.
In his remarks, Chief Education Officer, Mr. Bren Romney highlighted the significance of ongoing financial support for the school lunch programme, and he, like all the other speakers who followed him thanked the Schulze Family Foundation.
“Many schools had partnered with private sector partners to extend the School Meals Programme,” he said. “These initiatives at the school level were unfortunately short-lived as they depended on the ability of the private donors to continue to provide ongoing financial support.”
“The Department’s Meals Programme in various school-based initiatives provided the foundation for what we are about to launch today,” he said. “The School Lunch Programmes builds on the model implemented over the years, and perfected at the Vivien Vanterpool Primary School. It retrofitted kitchens in all Primary Schools, and provided kitchen equipment and other resources such as kitchen utensils.”
The School Lunch Programme now employs six cooks and eleven lunch assistants (as of Tuesday 11th April, 2023) and provides on an ongoing basis the ingredients and raw items to prepare hot meals for students. By the end of this month April 2023, the programme will be providing daily meals for some 1,223 students, as well as lunches for about 140 staff members.
“We could not have made this progress without the immense support received from our partners,” Mr. Romney said. “I would like to express our gratitude to the Richard Schulze Family Foundation for their kind contribution of US$350,000 for the academic year 2022/2023 and their commitment to continue the funding in the years ahead.”
PS in the Ministry of Education, Dr. Bonnie Richardson-Lake, echoed the sentiments of gratitude. She said the School Lunch Programme will serve to alleviate the risk of students developing various non-communicable diseases caused by the consumption of unhealthy foods, while enabling them to be more successful academically.
“Recognizing the importance of proper nutrition and its link to academic performance,” she stressed, “the Ministry and Department has long wanted to implement a school feeding programme. Local health data has revealed that children in Anguilla as young as primary school age, have significant risk factors for developing chronic non-communicable diseases which are the leading causes of death in Anguilla. Combating non-communicable diseases require a multipronged approach, and providing our children with nutritious lunches is certainly a step in the right direction.”
“We have also partnered with UNICEF who have provided funding through a Healthy Nutrition and Lifestyle Campaign which we have begun to undertake. This campaign dovetails very nicely with our School Lunch Programme,” PS Richardson-Lake said. “We are grateful for the generosity of Mr. Richard Schulze who has agreed to fund the school feeding programme, and we wish to show our sincere appreciation.”
The Honourable Minister of Education, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers placed on record her thanks, too, for the generosity of Mr. Schulze.
She said that, overall, parents would be savings as much as US$3.6 million for school lunches over all six primary schools for a year.
“This is the economic impact of the School Lunch Programme,” the Education Minister said. “In essence, this is what has been given to parents and it has allowed them to use that disposable income to go toward furthering their children’s educational journeys. So, for that I have to say thank you to the Schulze Family Foundation.”
The Honourable Premier, Dr. Ellis L. Webster also thanked Mr. Schulze.
“It is such a pleasure to be here today at the launch of this School Lunch Programme,” he said. “Back in 2020 when I met Mr. Schulze virtually, he talked about coming to Anguilla and taking over CuisinArt, now Aurora Anguilla Resort and Golf Club. He made a commitment, which he did not have to do. He has done a lot for Anguilla, and so I want to personally thank you, Mr. Schulze for your kind commitment.”
Students from the various primary schools were present to not only show their appreciation to the Schulze Family Foundation for the generous contribution to the School Lunch Programme, but also to those who helped in making their delicious daily lunches possible.
