Who We Are
Blessings in a Backpack is a 501C (3) non-profit organization. This unique program is designed to provide weekend nourishment to children grades K-5 in Title 1 schools who qualify for the Federal Free and Reduced Meal Program. The program started within the Jefferson County Schools area in Louisville, Kentucky in 2005. Stan Curtis, the program founder, saw a need to help nourish the less fortunate children in our public school system, so that they could learn at the same rate as their classmates. By providing them with food over the weekend, it would increase the odds of educational success. Blessings in a Backpack started with three elementary schools in Kentucky and now serves over 50 schools across the nation.
How Does the Program Work
Food is distributed through a network of volunteers and school officials on Fridays before the children leave for the weekend. The program serves children grades K-5 within Title 1 Elementary Public Schools. All students served are recipients of the national Free and Reduced Meal/Lunch program. Most of our recipients are in a household with a single parent or with parents who are classified as working poor, those individuals who are employed but don’t earn enough to make ends meet.
Food Services Provided by Blessings in a Backpack
Our weekend backpacks include ready to eat food items: Fruit Roll Ups, Pop Tarts, Lemonade and other drink mix packs, Instant Noodles, Peanut Butter, Macaroni and Cheese, Rice, Pasta, Instant Potatoes, Dry Cereal, etc. All food choices are kid friendly. This means the food distributed is healthy, light in weight and easy for children of all ages to carry, easy to make, and non-perishable. We rely on private donors such as you to purchase this food, as well as supermarkets which give us a substantial discount.
How You Can Help
A donation of $80.00 feeds a child for an entire school year. Contributions are tax-deductible and qualify for a tax credit for food pantries and other food programs.
BLESSING IN A BACKPACK
LEE COUNTY CHAPTER
239-690-4649
5781 Lee Boulevard
Suite 208-239
Lehigh Acres, Florida 33971
www.blessingsinleeco.org
2009 Board Members
Scott Fischer
John Nicholson
jnicholson@blessingsinleeco.org
Austin Shanfelter
ashanfelter@blessingsinleeco.org
John Toggweiler
jtoggweiler@blessingsinleeco.org
Dana Vidussi
David Grant
Jim Parker
James Haught
John Varkis
Tony Ceppaluni
tceppaluni@blessingsinleeco.org
Craig Albert
Samantha Scott
Lucia “Cia” Sherman
Administrator
Heather Christie
It is surprising for most Americans to learn that over 60% of children in grades K-5, in the U.S. public school system, are on a Free or Reduced Meal program (View state statistics). Unmet nutritional needs make it very difficult for children to learn, pay attention in class and behave properly to retain what they learn.
• In 2006 the poverty rate for minors in the United States was the highest in the industrialized world, with 21.9% of all minors living below the poverty threshold.
• The USDA reported in 2007 that 36.2 million people lived in households considered to be food insecure, of which 12.4 million are children. The ten states with the highest food insecurity were Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Maine, South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri (View food insecurity statistics in America).
• Food insecurity is the inablitiy to access food in a consistent manner, may require emergency food assistance, but try to have enough to feed the children. Adults in food insecure households may skip meals.
• The maximum monthly food stamp benefit in 2004 for a family of four was $471 or $1.31 per person per meal. The average per-person monthly benefit is $84 or 93 cents per meal. Some households only receive the minimum benefit of $10. A household may not participate in the Food Stamp Program if it has more than $2,000 in savings or other assets ($3,000 for households with elderly or disabled members).
• Current minimum wage is 30 percent lower in purchasing power than it was, on average, in the 1970s
Other site links for child hunger information:
http://www.frac.org/html/news/news_index.html
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodSecurity/
