The objective is simple---give underprivileged students in the Allen County School District the opportunity to have something to eat on weekends. It’s an objective which student service agencies within the Allen County School District is achieving but additional community help is needed to help meet a growing and on-going need.
For several years, the Allen County Schools Family Resource and Youth Service Centers (FRYSC) have overseen the Backpack Program for students at the Allen County Primary Center and Allen County Intermediate Center. At school in year’s past, underprivileged students qualified for free and reduced breakfast and lunch, thus giving the student a pair of healthy meals per school day. Yet, school staff realized that many students would not be in a home environment where adequate food could be provided Saturday and Sunday.
In the Backpack Program, FRYSC staff would cram a backpack with an assortment of food items. The student would discreetly be called to the office at the end of classes on Friday and given the backpack to take home for the weekend. The student was also responsible for returning the backpack to the FRYSC staff so that the process could be repeated the next Friday.
Under the Community Eligibility Provision this year, all students at the Primary and Intermediate Center can eat breakfast and lunch at no-cost while qualifying students at the middle and high school can still receive free or reduced rates for breakfast and lunch. This helps students receive nutritional meals at least twice a day but there is still the problem of the weekends---weekends in which many students are without adequate food.
The Backpack Program continues this year and has been has been expanded to include students at the James E. Bazzell Middle School and the Allen County-Scottsville High School.
“There are so many kids that don’t get a good meal at home,” James E. Bazzell FRYSC coordinator Angel Clark said. ““We are just trying to make sure that these kids have something to eat.”
FRYSC staff at each school work with teachers and food service to help identify children who are in need of help with food for the weekend.
“We try and get lunch room workers to let us know if they see a child coming back and getting extra food, not just extra snacks, but extra food,” Clark explained. “When we get a name, we will talk to them and see what the need is. Sometimes, it’s just that the child is growing and wants extra food but for others, they don’t have food at home and they will tell us they can use the food. I’m sure they are kids out there who we don’t know about.”
Once a student is selected to receive a backpack, FRYSC staff will determine if the child has siblings in the home. In years past, the oldest sibling was given a backpack filled with food---food to be shared by all the children in the home.
“Now, we are finding that some of the kids at this age (middle school and high school) are embarrassed to take a home a backpack so sometimes we have to send the backpack home with a younger child,” Clark pointed out. “If we send a backpack home with a child, there is enough food in there for him and all his siblings. Right now we have 82 children that are getting food. We have about 40 kids in the district that take backpack home but the backpacks are serving the 82 children and I’m sure that number will grow.”
Clark explains that the backpack contains a wide range of food items with the focus being on food in which a child can eat with a minimum amount or preparation of support from adults.
“We include things like little boxes of cereal or a bag if the backpack is going to a student with siblings, Ravioli, Roman Noodles, peanut butter, crackers, cereal bars, Pop-Tarts, Rice Krispy treats, and little containers of fruit,” Clark said. “We put things in the backpack that a child can put in a microwave and fix for themselves or open and eat themselves. We strive for things that the child can fix for themselves. It’s also not always the same things every week.”
The program is very beneficial but does carry with it a high operating cost.
“It’s a very worthwhile program but a very costly program,” Clark noted. “Three weeks ago, we went and brought about $800 worth of food and we have serviced kids from the Intermediate Center, the middle school, and the high school with that food for two weeks.”
The program relies heavily upon donations from the community---including monetary donations or food donations from churches.
“We take monetary donations and use the money to but food to stock our pantries,” Clark explained. “Churches, Sunday School Classes and Ladies Fellowship classes have taken up offerings. One church even goes as far as going and purchasing food items and bringing it to us. We have had a few donations this year but the bulk of our donations have not started coming in this year.”
With the Backpack program serving a greater number of students through the addition of the middle and high school, Clark hopes that the church and civic community will continue to make donations---either in the form of cash---used by FRYSC staff to purchase food items--- or in food items specifically.
Food items which can be donated include pasta, macaroni and cheese, soups, rice, Hormel Compleats, noodles, instant mashed potatoes, oatmeal, Vienna sausage, Beanie Weenie’s, beef jerky, cereal, apple sauce, fruit cups, pudding cups, Jell-O cups, Gummy fruit snacks, cheese and crackers, peanut butter and crackers, cookies, and Pop-tarts.
To make a monetary or food donation for the Backpack Program, contact the Family Resource or Youth Service Center at any Allen County school.