AlimentAction Pontiac: feeding hungry kids
Published online October 8, 2025, at www.pontiacjournal.com.
Mélissa Gélinas
CAMPBELL’S BAY – With rising food prices, more and more vulnerable children are experiencing food insecurity, particularly in the Pontiac. To provide them with balanced meals, Bouffe Pontiac, in collaboration with several local organizations, has launched the AlimentAction Pontiac project.
The initiative delivers daily emergency meals to schools across the region. “We prepare a variety of dishes such as meatballs, chicken, rice, pasta, carrots, and potatoes,” explained Kim Laroche, executive director of Bouffe Pontiac. “All of the foods are easy to freeze,” she added.
According to Anne-Marie Belleau, director of the Petits-Ponts school network, the program is available to all children, regardless of family income or circumstances. “Meals can also be provided to children who are still hungry after eating or who simply forgot their lunch,” she said. The goal is to ensure that no child goes hungry. “Food is a basic need. If a child is hungry, they cannot learn properly,” she emphasized.
She noted that food insecurity has become more apparent in recent years. “Grocery bills keep rising, and it shows among our students,” she observed. “Lunch boxes are far less full, with fewer fruits and vegetables,” she added. “Some children simply have nothing to eat.”
All primary schools of the Centre de services scolaire des Hauts-Bois-de-l’Outaouais, as well as primary and secondary schools of the Western Québec School Board located in MRC Pontiac, will benefit from the program. “École secondaire Sieur-de-Coulonge has other alternatives and therefore won’t require our services,” Laroche clarified.
The project brings together several local partners, including L’Entourelle, AutonHomme Pontiac, Jardin Éducatif du Pontiac, Maison de la Famille and L’Interval, who all contribute to its success. AlimentAction is funded by the Food Security Fund (FSA), which supports initiatives that improve food access for communities in need. “This year, we received about $40,000, which also covers the project’s second phase: providing nutritious food baskets at reduced prices in partnership with local farmers,” Laroche said. This new initiative will be rolled out soon.
