The Hillcrest School breakfast program has been up and running for almost 10 years, brightening kids’ days, ensuring that every student has enough fuel to get going, and creating an atmosphere of safety and success in the school.
Thousands of volunteer hours were put into the project and now Pat Steinke, one of the people behind the initiative, is saying her good-bye and leaving the sustainable and running program behind.
“It was absolutely fulfilling and wonderful. I saw the students change within the school to becoming a united front where they all worked together. The older students came to the breakfast program and helped serve, they helped the younger ones fill their plates, cut their food. They visited with the younger ones and literally mentored the young students, so that after the breakfast program when they went out on the school round, the young people had a friend,” said Steinke. “There were so many positives with this program.”
About 10 years ago Steinke was putting on a school Relay for Life at Hillcrest School and she noticed that not everything was going smoothly with kids.
“I just could see a huge need within the school because there was something missing in some of the young people’s lives. The continuity of certain male figures in their lives, some of them … were arriving at different times to get to school, so something needed to be done to get them there first thing in the morning,” said Steinke.
Hillcrest School’s community liaison Sara Pippus recalled how the first little steps were made at the very beginning of the program.
“She watched as I went and took a little person from a younger grade to our server to make them a toast because they haven’t had breakfast that morning. Then she asked, ‘What did you just do?’ And I said, ‘Oh, we often will make toast or something like that for when they haven’t had breakfast.’ And she said, ‘What would the school do if we had funding for a breakfast program?’ I said, ‘Well, that would be fantastic.’ That was the beginning of a small conversation that turned into a bigger conversation.”
Steinke then was on the board of directors for the United Way Estevan, so after she talked to the principal and she agreed that there was definitely a need for a breakfast program, Steinke presented the idea to the United Way board during a monthly meeting.
“Every member could see the need and agreed. Because the United Way Estevan wants to make a difference within their community, they decided to allot a certain amount of money towards the breakfast program. They also put in a lot of time volunteering and helping, so they were really instrumental in getting this off the ground.”
They started with a few little pancake grills and an industrial toaster that was donated early on, just serving off a little table in one of the multipurpose rooms. And now with the help of individuals and local businesses, they have a full kitchen and they are able to serve kids every morning.
“It’s definitely a worthwhile program and would not have survived without having Sara (Pippus) at the helm. She definitely is a caring, wonderful person who made this program work,” said Steinke. “All of the staff at Hillcrest are wonderful, caring people.”
Once the program started, soon the school staff noticed that the absenteeism went down.
“The students came, they had a place to go in the morning and not only fill their belly but in my mind, this program also fed their soul. It made them realize how valuable they were. It made these students realize that all of these adult volunteers were coming and investing time in them, so they knew they were valuable,” said Steinke.
Through the years, Steinke served as a volunteer for the program. She said that the program was also good for volunteers involved as it made them feel needed as well.
Steinke was also making pancakes, muffins and waffles to feed up to 200 kids. It would take her at least one full day to get all the prep work done that would then be bagged and frozen for daily amounts.
“It was a huge part of my life and definitely a priority to make sure that there were always pancakes and waffles and muffins for these children,” said Steinke.
But now that Steinke and her husband have sold their business, E&G Auto, and retired, it was time for her to step back. She said she will miss the program a lot.
“It’s still a great part of my life … I’ll miss the communication with the school. I used to go have breakfast with the students once in a while, and I really enjoyed that,” said Steinke. “But as long as the program continues, I’ll be happy.”
Steinke spent many years volunteering in the community and said that it’s something she would recommend to everyone.
“The needs out there are huge and great, and volunteering, it opens up your world to realize that there is always somebody or something that needs help … COVID has definitely taught us that if we don’t work together, we are not going to make it. Volunteering is huge and I find that I get back 10 times in satisfaction to what work I ever do,” said Steinke.
And all the work and effort Steinke put into the school was always greatly appreciated.
“We just want to celebrate (Pat Steinke) as a volunteer and celebrate her courage and initiative in firing up the breakfast in our school at all, because without her we may have gotten to that point eventually but it never would have been what it is right now without her. So she is a very special lady to us,” said Pippus.
“There is no way that we can say thank you enough to a woman who helped us start our breakfast program and then supported it all the way through these last 10 years. We were just very excited to have someone like that on board and she’s spent a lot of time spreading the word in the community about what we are doing. And that is valuable to an organization like ours.”
This spring due to pandemic the breakfast program was shifted into the emergency fund used to supply grocery gift cards to the families to help them a bit during trying times.
But once it gets back to normal next school year, they will look for someone who would be willing to join their team and help with breakfasts.
“I hope that there is an organization or somebody who wants to step up and take over what I’ve been doing. Even if they only want to do it for a month or two at a time,” said Steinke.
