BATAVIA — Salvation Army workers were loading backpacks Tuesday as part of a new initiative with United Way and the city school district.
With funding from United Way, Salvation Army will be packing up assorted snacks for income eligible city school children every week. The backpacks will be distributed to Batavia Middle School and the three city elementary schools. The packs will be given to children who are part of the free or reduced lunch program.
“This is the first year we’re doing this here,” said Captain Patty Kurtz of Salvation Army. “It’s a way to help a family stretch their food dollars, and it goes along with our mission.”
Similar programs have already existed for other schools, including Byron-Bergen and Le Roy. Lori Stupp, United Way’s former regional director, asked the city school district if there was a need for such a program.
District Superintendent Margaret Puzio felt there was, and staff at each of the district’s elementary schools and the middle school identified eligible families to participate in the program. Organizers had counted on 66 children, but that soon increased to nearly 100 eligible children.
Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern helped out with some one-time leftover grant money. Community donations added to the pot, for a purchase of $3,000 worth of food. Not all of that food was used for this first round, but the need for more will continue throughout the year, Stupp said. She is hoping the community will continue to support the program financially and/or with donations of food.
“The idea is that on Monday morning, kids can arrive to school hungry to learn and not just hungry,” she said. “With this economy, it can be very difficult for a family to have enough food on the table. The hope is it can be self-sustaining by the community.”
Puzio announced the Salvation Army BCSD Backpack Plan during this week’s Board of Education meeting. The backpacks will go to “some of our neediest students,” she said. Students are to take their backpacks on Friday and return them the following week for the process to begin all over again.
As the plan officially begins this Friday, more food than usual had to be packed to include the three-day Columbus Day weekend, Kurtz said. Items included individual serving sizes of cereal, oatmeal, macaroni and cheese, applesauce, fruit, peanut butter crackers and pudding.
She welcomes assistance from anyone wanting to help stuff packs every week for the rest of the school year.
“If anyone wants to come for a few hours to stuff them, we could always use help with that,” she said Tuesday at the East Main Street site. “We had about seven or eight volunteers and some staff this morning.”
United Way Regional Director Jamie Rada said that most children get fed during the week. Apparently, many of them have not had much to eat during weekends. She wants to ensure that they will return to school “well fed and enthused” rather than worrying about getting something to eat.
To continue this effort, checks may be sent to United Way, 335 Ellicott St., Batavia, NY, 14020, or donors may designate the Backpack Program during the United Way’s annual campaign drive. Food may also be dropped off at Salvation Army, 529 East Main St.