Tus-T Water serves over 30,000 meals

Since the start of the current academic year, close to 31,000 free nutritious breakfasts have been served to 395 children in 75 schools throughout St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), as part of the Start Bright Tus-T Water

breakfast initiative.

And according to Tus-T CEO Dwight Hillocks, it is expected that almost 47,000 breakfasts will be served by the end of the school year.

“During the second and last term of this academic school year, four of the 75 schools have been participating in a pilot with 10 children in each school. Start Bright is testing what it takes to scale vertically from five children per school and are employing four women to prepare breakfast for these children.

“One of the variables we are attempting to establish is the maximum number of children that a person can prepare food for within an hour. This includes, preparing, serving and cleaning up,” Hillocks added.

Admitting that the current school year has presented what he describes as a “few speed bumps” not experienced in the pilot in the 2015 – 2016 school year, Hillocks said these are not insurmountable, as possible solutions have been identified and will be further examined at an upcoming workshop with the teachers and principals of the 75 participating schools.

Hillocks also reminded the public that Tus-T is unable to ‘feed the children’ without its participation. He is grateful for the public’s continued support, which has so far been able to sustain the breakfasts for 395 children for 40 days per term. This, Hillocks contends, is accomplished by everyone contributing to a meal, each time they purchase a bottle of Tus-T water.

Tus-T is aiming to increase the number of children being fed from five to 10 or more in all participating schools. The Tus-T CEO asserts that this will only be possible if households help to meet this challenge by committing to purchasing at least three bottles of Tus-T water per week.

Hillocks is projecting that once this can be accomplished, Tus-T can double the number of children that are currently being fed from 395 to 800 during the upcoming academic school year. The primary focus of Start Bright is to provide these children with the means to start their school day on a full stomach, an ‘investment’ in the future of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Hillocks has also announced plans for Start Bright Tus-T scholarships, among other benefits that are in the pipeline for the next academic year.