A Vernon elementary school had a hand in helping one of its own programs.
The award-winning Okanagan College Enactus initiative FruitSnaps is now running as a social enterprise after the student-run team recently launched apple juice boxes.
The five-litre boxes of fresh apple juice, the result of an abundant number of apples over the fall semester, are now available locally and online for purchase.
College alumni, staff and community members were among the first people to help the Enactus team pick the approximately 13,000 pounds of apples that otherwise would have gone to waste.
A Grade 5 class from Ecole Beairsto Elementary also lent a hand in picking the apples while socially distanced to support their own school breakfast program. The students were guests of Enactus, learning about food security, environmental protection and helping those in need.
“Despite the many personal and logistical challenges brought on by COVID-19, this team continues to adapt and push forward, united by their commitment to help those in need,” said faculty advisor and Okanagan College School of Business instructor Andrew Klingel.
FruitSnaps will continue to produce and deliver the dried apple products to schools in the Okanagan throughout the winter. With the help of the North Okanagan Valley Gleaners, apples were converted into over 20,000 servings, which go to local schools, food banks and Indigenous communities.
In the South Okanagan, a halt was put on the snack production due to new pandemic restrictions, but the Okanagan Gleaners were still able to process close to two tons of apple donations from B.C. Tree Fruits on behalf of the program. The fruit snaps went to local schools through Starfish packs, a program run through School District No. 67, Okanagan Skaha.
To learn more about the work FruitSnaps is doing, go here.
To purchase the newly-launched FruitSnaps apple juice, visit Lakeview Market in Kelowna, Triumph Coffee or Soul Studios in Vernon, or online at fruitsnaps.square.site. Available while supplies last, with 400 cases for sale.
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