Portage Collegiate Institute's breakfast program is heating up as they received a donation of a pair of ovens from McCain Foods. The ovens will join other recent donations such as a pair of freezers and a new dishwasher and tableware.

The dishwasher received with a grant from Community Foundation of Portage and District.Resource teacher Darren Reichert says numerous students use their program every day and the ovens will help those students get the breakfast they need to have a productive day.

"We feel like 50-60 kids per day are accessing the breakfast program," says Reichert. "That varies on how often the room is open and the hours we're open. That number would probably be the average number who use the program."

Reichert adds they saw that this was something needed by the student body so they decided to help the kids get the best start possible.

"We identified a need for this," notes Reichert. "We've seen stats talking about poverty levels in Portage. We're aware that kids learn better if they've had a good start to the day which means breakfast. We feel that the amount of kids using the program justifies us starting it up. We're happy to provide that service and a lot of community partners are involved to help keep it running."

The new dishwasher and tableware were provided thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of Portage and District.