Program to provide food for low-income students over break
As area school students look forward to the Christmas break, groups that provide backpacks of weekend food for low-income children are trying to fill the long void without a cafeteria meal.
In Canon-McMillan School District, 135 elementary students at First Street and South Central schools get food every week through the Blessings in a Backpack program, which is open to those who are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches. The organization works to combat hunger in children by sending food, like ramen noodles, pepperoni sticks and granola bars, home for the weekend.
Louise Carmichael, the chairwoman of the Canon-McMillan program, said she would like to raise money to send extra food home over the holiday break. She said donations would pay for foods like instant oatmeal and perhaps a holiday crispy treat.
“It’s a long vacation,” she said. “The kids are not getting breakfast in school.”
Carmichael said anyone who wants to donate can drop off money or checks the elementary school offices or send it to the organization at P.O. Box 133, Venetia, Pa., 15367.
At Bentworth School District, “we absolutely do,” send home more food over break, said Jennifer Cario, president of Bentworth Blessings. She said two years ago Bentworth Blessings incorporated so the group could do more than what the national organization allows. Now, it sends a full dinner to eligible students for Thanksgiving and a week’s worth of groceries for Christmas break with instructions of how to make different meals.
The group also sends hot cocoa and a book, movie or game.
The Bentworth Blessings group makes about 200 bags weekly for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, though most go to elementary students, she said. For Christmas, more extra food will be sent to about 20 to 25 families who have the greatest need, Cario said.
She said that NSS Life in McMurray donated enough to cover the cost of Thanksgiving and Christmas meals this year. However, she said, anyone interested can donate by dropping off a check or money at the schools.
“Due to the wonderful community support, we are into the fourth year and able to keep it going because of volunteers,” she said.
However, Fort Cherry School District is struggling to keep its Blessings in a Backpack program afloat.
Debbie Cowden, the high school nurse who coordinates the program, said that if a sponsor is not found, the program will end this year. Each week, 165 Fort Cherry students have been helped through Blessings in a Backpack, but the group will not send food home over the holiday break.
“We are desperately seeking a corporate sponsor,” she said, adding that anyone interested in helping can call her at the school.
But the district’s Angel Tree program is helping 170 kids in kindergarten through 12th grade by providing clothes, coats, boots and toys. And if the group finds families who need food over the winter break, it will use money from the Angel Tree fund to help.
To find out if there is a backpack program at your school, visit http://www.blessingsinabackpack.org/about/our-programs/.