Local children don't go hungry thanks to new Backpack Program
Some students who might have faced hunger on the weekends are benefiting from the new Backpack Program introduced in West Georgia area schools by the Community Foundation of West Georgia.
Designed to curb hunger in the community, the Backpack Program involves local schools, which identify children most at risk for food insecurity over the weekends. In selecting students, schools consider factors like income level, makeup of the family and indications that there may not be enough food in the home. Local “sponsors” including churches, businesses and individuals decide the number of backpacks they can fill each week. The backpacks have been purchased by Foundation. Sponsors fill them with nutritious and easily prepared foods such as peanut butter, fruit cups, breakfast bars, pudding cups, fresh fruit, are sent home with the children on Friday. The children return the empty backpacks each week to be filled again.
Some of the West Georgia schools already participating in the program are Heard County elementary and middle schools, Bowdon Elementary, Mt. Zion Middle, Sharp Creek Elementary, Carrollton Elementary, and Central Middle School.
Local sponsors working with these schools include Heard County Food Pantry, Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, Bowdon United Christian Ministries, West Georgia Board of Realtors, Southern Hills Christian Church, and Bethesda Baptist Church. Additional sponsors are needed to cover the remaining middle and elementary schools in Carroll and Haralson counties.
“In addition to receiving food, we want the kids to know that we care about them and want them to do well in school. If hunger is an issue, we don’t want that to be an issue any more,” Jones said.
Identified children are monitored in the areas of academics, absenteeism, behavioral write ups, etc. Jones said that beginning next year each participating school will be asked to track the students’ test scores, absenteeism and other factors. “We want to see if this program is making a difference in their performance in the classroom.”
The local program is modeled after the Backpack Program of America’s Second Harvest, a national nonprofit food bank.
Anyone interested in adopting a school should contact Kim Jones, President of the Community Foundation, at 770-832-1462 or kim@cfwg.net.
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