Lately it seems if we are not complaining about the cost of gasoline as it nears $4 a gallon, we are grumping about the rising cost of milk, eggs and other groceries. But, most of us still manage to enjoy simple pleasures in life and we are still able to sit down for three meals a day and even treat ourselves to dessert if we wish.
Sadly for some families, this is not the case and they cannot afford to meet their most basic needs for food for themselves and their family.
I don’t know about you, but when I am hungry I can’t think about anything but my hunger. Learning something new is pretty much out of the question. Good nutrition is crucial to mental and physical development of children and a growling stomach is down right distracting.
A new program called "Backpackers," coordinated by the Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan and supported by Sodexo is trying to eliminate Monday morning hunger for as many children as possible.
Each Friday, a select number of Monroe, MI elementary schools students take home enough non-perishable foods to fill a backpack in an effort to try to provide families with nutritious meals through the weekend.
About five to seven pounds of non-perishable canned or packaged food from peanut butter, tuna, soups, ravioli, beef stew, and some boxed foods are included in each backpack each week. The backpacks are distributed randomly each week to recipients who are identified by teachers.
The Backpackers program began in an East Coast school district where Sodexo provides food service. Local management saw kids coming to school on Monday hungry so they started raising funds and having canned food drives. The filled backpacks were provided on Friday for students to take home on the weekends.
And since then, the program has been growing across the country.
Although the Backpackers program is not a part of the Sodexo Foundation yet, because it is still relatively new, the program might expand locally once it taps into the grant cycle. The Sodexo Foundation, supports innovative programs like this to help contribute to a hunger-free nation.
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source for this post www.monroenews.com
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