A local program to provide food on the weekend for children in need has not only tripled over its couple of years of operation, but children in need are now on a waiting list.
The Thermal Belt Outreach Ministry began the program in 2008 with 67 children receiving back packs of food to take home for the weekend. The program now has grown to 250 with children waiting to get into the program.
Outreachs Feed-A-Kid Coordinator Laura Morgan says the program saw a large increase last year when the program grew from 67 to 184 as the economy began to drop. She says Outreach is seeing lots of parents who have lost their jobs this year and some are in and out of the program depending on need.
“Basically what were seeing is the economy,” Morgan says. “We ended last year with 184 kids and started seeing that sharp rise. There is a waiting list at some schools.”
The national program began in Polk County in January, 2008 and has grown substantially with two teams of volunteers needed to sort the food. Outreach has outgrown its pantry space, which is the reason some children are on a waiting list. Morgan says the pantry needs to be expanded in order to serve more children.
The program is coordinated through each of Polk Countys Schools, with referrals coming in from teachers, principals and counselors. Backpacks are set aside specifically to fill with food for the weekend, with children picking them up on Fridays. Items for the weekend include proteins, fruits, vegetables, milk, breakfast items and snacks. Some items are enough to feed several in a family.
The program is receiving more food for each child recently through the help of Manna Food Bank. Each back pack has added items through donations from Manna.
The program is helped by donors who donate every month as well as churches who support the pantry.
Feed-A-Kid, also known as the BackPack program is a national program available in 41 states and in D.C. It began when a need was recognized that many children were only able to eat at school and struggled to get food on the weekends and holiday breaks.
The BackPack program became a pilot program in 1995 with the National Council of Feeding America approving the program as an official national program of the Network in July, 2006. More than 140 Feeding America members operated more than 3,600 BackPack Programs and served more than 190,000 children in 2009 throughout the country.
To donate to the program locally, send donations to Outreach Ministry, P.O. Box 834, Columbus, NC 29722 or contact Outreach at 894-2988.