Blessings In A Backpack Program Feeds Hungry Students On Weekends (Video)

Breakfast and lunch meals at school may help needy students get access to food during the week. When the weekend comes, however, many are left to fend for themselves.

Teacher Elaine Heyler saw her students struggling at her South Florida school because of this. She told NBC Miami:

"Parents are working and they're not at home because they need to keep two jobs, [some are] single parents. Some kids have no food."

So she decided to act. Heyler joined the national Blessings in a Backpack program, leading student volunteers in packing backpacks full of food for needy students to take home on the weekend, reports NBC Miami.

Alexandra Kales, an eighth-grade student leader, said she felt like a "better person" by helping out her fellow classmates.

"I think they feel grateful. There's a friend in need, someone's there to help you through the tough times or not."

WATCH:

Steve Moss, a member of Florida's Bay County School Board, told WJHG that some students are so desperate for weekend food, they save some of their Friday lunch to take home.

"What they were doing is they were hoarding the food almost like animals, eating half of it, sticking the rest in their pants or their book bag so they would have something to eat over the weekend because they simply didn't have those resources at the house."

Schools across the nation are getting involved. NBC San Diego reported students at Doris Miller Elementary School in Tierrasanta received five hundred backpacks loaded with healthy snacks and drinks last week.

Kate Rose, wife of professional golfer Justin Rose, participates in the program through the PGA Tour Wives Association, a not-for-profit organization affiliated with the Professional Golfers' Association. She told NBC San Diego that to reach students minds, you have to take care of their stomachs first:

"You can't expect children to learn if they haven't got food in their tummy. It's fuel for them."

For every $80 in donations, the Blessings In A Backpack's website says it can provide a student with weekend meals for an entire year. For more information, follow the Impact links below:

Comments

[RightnotLeft]

12:34 PM on 02/06/2011

Somehow these children in the photo don't look very malnourished.

[hatchetfac]

08:02 PM on 02/04/2011

Somebody, ANYBODY, tell me how many have died from hunger in the past year in the USA. It must be huge! But, I can't seem to find an answer to my question. Must be a radical right wing conspiracy. But I KNOW my leftist friends on HP can enligthen me!!!!! Give me the number! It must be, must be, in the 100's of thousands, maybe MILLIONS. What is that NUMBER!?!?!?

[eceresa]

07:47 AM on 02/05/2011

Spoken like someone who's never been hungry.

[bresponsible]

09:58 AM on 02/05/2011

Mean comment have no place on such an important issue! Children are our most precious gift and all must focus on their needs. ALL

[alongst]

12:00 PM on 02/06/2011

Factual question needs to be answered- otherwise, you are throwing money at a bogus charity.
If they really are there, they need help. There's also food stamps and WIC to help feed them.

[edgarcaycedoc]

07:47 PM on 02/04/2011

In our state it is called "Food For Kids." While heading up a committee to respond to community needs, it was my privilege to institute it as one of our efforts. We have been responding to this program with several thousand dollars every year for five years now.

[diak0n0s]

06:33 PM on 02/04/2011

This program is the real deal.

Our church here in IL has folks delivering food backpacks to the kids in Appalachia,

Every dollar and all food sent goes where it's suppose to. . . .and that is the exception in American charities.

[msgirlintn]

06:55 PM on 02/04/2011

diak0n0s,
 
That is an exception in American charities.  If people actually knew where their money was going to when they give to American charities, they should be very upset.

[bresponsible]

10:01 AM on 02/05/2011

Not all charities are the same. Speak to the people in the organization. East TN has some great groups that help local people. Some of the kindest people I have ever met!

[Pat Padrnos]

06:22 PM on 02/04/2011

I have heard of programs like this. We live in a low income community. Most of the children in our schools get free meals. Thank goodness. My husband and I are raising 3 grandchildren and they get breakfast and lunch at school as they are on Medi-Cal. We are able to provide food for our little ones at home, but I worry about those children in our community who might not be getting the food they need. I am ging to pass this along to our princiapal. Thank you for doing this article.

[thetheRedundant]

05:57 PM on 02/04/2011

It's sad to know that this is happening in America. Too often kids and education are put on the back burner.

[AllieGoogle]

07:00 PM on 02/04/2011

Perhaps their parents should have considered that before having kids they couldn't afford and expecting others to pay their way.

[thetheRedundant]

07:07 PM on 02/04/2011

Way to look out for your fellow Americans.

[edgarcaycedoc]

07:48 PM on 02/04/2011

A very patriotic post that would have made "the Gipper" proud!!!

[onwisconsin]

05:37 PM on 02/04/2011

This happens at schools across the nation that are not affiliated with this program. My mother's middle school has been doing this for years in Arkansas. It started there with compassionate teachers who funded it out of their own pockets and has now become a parent/teacher partnership. I've been a part of this type of activity in the past 20 years or so when I was teaching in the public schools as well. Usually, it starts with the teachers who figure out that kids are not eating at home. We've all seen too many kids that come to school even when they are sick just to get breakfast and lunch.


Thanks for posting this here.

[Anaxamenes]

05:34 PM on 02/04/2011

I think this is all the proof that we need, that people grow up in different situations, so the "one size fits all" pull yourself up by your bootstraps mentality of the right doesn't work for those who can't even afford food, let alone boot straps.

[AllieGoogle]

07:06 PM on 02/04/2011

It's teaching the next generation that people don't need to be responsible for themselves or their offspring - that others will take care of them.

[Anaxamenes]

05:52 PM on 02/06/2011

No it's not, it's providing basic education and services so that people can actually have a chance to improve their situation.

[edgarcaycedoc]

07:49 PM on 02/04/2011

And what good are bootstraps anyhow, if you cannot afford boots???

[offred]

05:28 PM on 02/04/2011

God bless nonprofits and the people who work for them!

[bresponsible]

10:08 AM on 02/05/2011

Yes. Worked for non-profit for 8 years. Best years ever. Everyday was a wonderful day and I always felt good about what we were doing. EVERYDAY. It certainly enhanced my soul and spirit!

[eric14]

04:59 PM on 02/04/2011

I congratulate you on doing this valuable work.

As for the richest 2%, I cannot say.

[AllieGoogle]

07:07 PM on 02/04/2011

Conservatives are way more generous than liberals with their own money - libs are only generous with other people's money.

[eric14]

07:55 PM on 02/04/2011

Defend those who live in luxury while millions suffer.
Defend those who despise you.
To the super-rich, what are you?

[manelady]

04:47 PM on 02/04/2011

This story needs to be front page news. All of the posts have so expressed my rage and sadness that I just can't say anymore about it other than I will be contributing to this wonderful charity.

[TXfemmom]

04:32 PM on 02/04/2011

Thanks be for all these volunteers and people who assist in this  I had read an article where a teacher had asked for special food rations for some of her students to take home for long breaks, such as the Christmas break so they would have something to eat.
 
In a country where the Paulson Hedge Fund head, who assisted Goldman with their mortgage shenanigans still walks the street and just "took home SIX BILLION DOLLARS, in bonus for one year, we have children who don't have food on the weekends.  There is something very, very seriously wrong in this country when a criminal still walks the streets and takes home six BILLION dollars on which he pays minimum taxes while children don't have anything to eat on the weekends, and he and his cohorts clammer for more tax cuts for themselves.

[offred]

05:29 PM on 02/04/2011

HEAR, HEAR!!!!!

[ManBaby]

03:39 PM on 02/04/2011

The problem is even when we aren't feeling charitable, children are still going hungry.
Even when we don't remember to give, children are still going hungry.
Even when we forget to donate food one week, children are still hungry.
The idea of doing anything collectively has been so demonized that it's impossible to do things consistently that need to be done.
Children need food every day.
Aren't we the government? If not, what are "we"? Just a lot of people who happen to live near each other? Don't we have any ideals?
At the very least, can we agree that children should not starve on American soil?
I know the "every man for himself" philosophy is very popular now.
But "every child for himself"? That has to be unacceptable. We are better than this.

[alongst]

11:57 AM on 02/06/2011

Please tell me who these starving children are.

[ManBaby]

02:40 PM on 02/06/2011

God bless you and thank you. Every bit helps. We have a real need here in Appalachia and while there are some groups that help there are still many children who go without food. I'll post some names of non-profits that could really use the help. You'd be surprised how many people turn a blind eye to it!

[Burt65]

03:20 PM on 02/04/2011

...and in other news, Wall Street wages hit record high and hedge fund managers collect BILLION dollar bonuses.

There's something DRAMATICALLY wrong in a society where parents need to work two jobs, don't spend any time with their kids, and still can't afford food!

Why is it, given the current state of things, that so much of the populous in the US is against higher taxes for the wealthy, decent minimum wages and other REASONABLE government regulation to ensure things like KIDS GETTING FED.

It's great that these kids are getting food (of questionable nutritional value though it may be), but does anyone else get pissed off at having to read things like tis?

[Jolimont]

03:18 PM on 02/04/2011

We should be ashamed of ourselves. We let our children go hungry because we refuse to pay taxes that benefit all. We relish in our selfishness and poo poo the charities that do this sort of thing. We are a nation without morals.

[Dewts]

03:54 PM on 02/04/2011

who poo poos charities?

stealing people's money to give it to other people via taxing is immoral. it doesn't cost very much to feed a family (see my beans post below), i bet lots of these kids who aren't eating on the weekends have parents who pay for cable, or cigarettes, or beer, or internet, or a pet, or whatever that is a lower priority than food for their children.

[Jolimont]

04:18 PM on 02/04/2011

Whatever, you're just selfish. Dress it up any way you like. You don't feel the slightest bit responsible for other people. That makes you self-centered at best, selfish at worst.

[offred]

05:30 PM on 02/04/2011

I've heard right-wing radio hosts call nonprofits evil, communist, and socialist. I suppose because someone was providing necessary services without profiting from it.

[freegeg]

05:45 PM on 02/04/2011

There are food stamp programs. The problem is the parents are selling the food stamps.

[alongst]

11:59 AM on 02/06/2011

There's also WIC.