Karma Closet
Students at Northumberland Regional High School in Nova Scotia’s Pictou County get excited about lunch time. For nearly 200 students, lunch time means they get to take advantage of the Karma Closet free lunch program, with tasty and nutritious meals – and a side serving of learning.
A United Way-funded initiative, Karma Closet started as a literal closet, where students could come to pick up a snack or clothes if they needed them. It’s since expanded, to include hygiene products and snacks available in bins around the school, clothing sourced and donated by the community, and a daily meal program. It’s helping to educate and reduce stigma around food insecurity and poverty.
Program co-leads Megan Henshaw and Carly Barnes have volunteered with Karma Closet for all four years of their high school careers. Carly manages the free clothing program while Megan runs the weekly meetings and helps out with the lunch program. There are 42 student volunteers across four grades, helping to do everything from filling the bins to serving students to washing dishes.
The students prepare a balanced meal consisting of salads, soups and hot meals. And this has even been integrated into the school curriculum, giving 16 students an opportunity to take it as a Grade 11 course, building skills in budgeting and meal prep and cooking. Student volunteers also help with building other soft skills like customer service and teamwork.
In the 2024-25 year they served 19,000 meals at a cost of $2.22 per student.
"If you forgot your lunch, you just want to have something to eat, maybe you have food at home and maybe you don’t", says Megan. "It doesn’t matter. No one’s judging you, because everyone uses it".
Thanks to the generosity of United Way donors, programs like Karma Closet are helping young people learn, eat well, and look out for one another.
