Macon Co. Backpack Program - Feeding our Kids

I am Melissa Shrum with the Macon County Community Advisory Board, a 501c3 entity. One of our largest projects is the Backpack Program which began in January 2010 with 50 students. This program provides bags of food for students from all seven schools of Macon County each weekend. This is done on a referral basis, meaning a member of the school staff has noticed a child is less productive on Monday than he/she is on Wednesday after having free breakfast and lunch at school. The program has grown and we currently have 210 students participating. We are funded by local donors and clubs and a grant from Second Harvest. This grant has to be applied for every year and we are usually awarded food for 120 - 150 students but this year we are only receiving food for 90 students. The food they send has to have additional items added to it to make a complete bag for the weekend. Below is a breakdown of what we send home with the children and at what cost.

The 90 prepacked bags that come from Second Harvest consist of:

2 - pop top can entrees (beenie weenies, spaghetti o's, etc.)

1 - shelf stable carton of milk

1 - snack item (cinnamon grams, cheese it's, etc.)

1 - single serve mac n' cheese

2 - juice boxes

2 - single serve cereal bowls

We add an additional carton of milk, snack, and mac n' cheese to each of those 90 bags. Bringing the total items we purchase to send home food for 210 students each week:

240 entrees

330 milks

330 snacks

210 mac and cheese

240 juices

240 cereals

Our cost for the 210 per month are:

960 entrees 40 - 24 boxes of [email redacted]/box = $880

1320 milks 49 - 27 boxes of [email redacted]/box = $688.45

1320 snacks 9 - 150 packs of [email redacted]/box = $333.45

840 mac and cheese - 21 - 40 pack boxes of mac and cheese @ $19.25/box= $404.25

960 juices 24 - 40 pack boxes of juice @ $12.75/box = $306.00

960 cereals 10 - 96 servings boxes of cereal @ $27.90/box = $279.00

Giving us a total of $2,891.15 per month or for an 80-week school year $26,020.35.

In 2013 the cost of each bag of food was $4.75 and that included a fruit cup and applesauce which is no longer available. Now the cost per bag is $7.26 and no long comes with the fruit or applesauce.

This program does so much good for our students but we are at risk of running out of funding and we are asking businesses, residents, alumni and anyone who can please donate to this wonderful cause. The Service Learning Class takes care of packing and delivering the food to each school every week. This program shows these student, some of who have received the bags themselves, that you never know what the kid next to you is going through. They always come away with a sense of pride and a bit more empathy for their peers and what they may be experiencing. Help us keep this program going by donating and sharing this request. If you are a part of an organization that would like to donate or do a food drive please reach out to Melissa or LeAnne at Whittemore's Bookkeeping for more information.

Thank you in advance for your help.