Thousands of students depend on school lunch

Submitted photo Enon Baptist Church members Karen Greene, Jim Greene, Peggy Godley and Bill Godley pack food for the Food for Thought program.

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Submitted photo Enon Baptist Church members Karen Greene packs food for Food for Thought.

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By Sarah Campbell

scampbell@salisburypost.com

More than 12,000 students in the Rowan-Salisbury School System receive either free or reduced lunches during the week, but when they head home for the weekend some might not eat another hot meal until Monday.

Two local programs are working to make sure children don’t go hungry.

Food for Thought, a nonprofit organization founded in 2007, provides backpacks filled with food to 140 students at seven elementary schools every week.

North Rowan Elementary School partners with seven local churches to deliver bags of food to 14 families each month through its Food for Our Families program.

Both programs are operated by volunteer efforts and contributions.

Food for Thought

Overton Elementary School was the first school in the Rowan-Salisbury School System to house the Food for Thought program.

About 12 students were served that year, taking home backpacks filled with items such as soup, macaroni and cheese, juice boxes and granola bars.

Backpacks include two-days worth of breakfast, lunch and snack for the child.

The nonprofit organization has expanded to Koontz, Woodleaf, Knollwood, Hanford-Dole, Granite Quarry and Shive elementary schools. The schools are selected based on free and reduced lunch data provided by the school system.

Executive Director Amy Goodnight said grant dollars from the Salisbury Community Foundation and the Blanche and Julian Robertson Family Foundation as well as support from civic groups and churches have made it possible for the program to grow and she’s hoping to reach at least 150 students next year.

“Giving has increased for us because we are very tangible in our community,” Goodnight said. “People can see that our resources are really going to help kids each weekend.

“They see the immediate need and immediate outcome.”

Goodnight said the students who receive the backpacks are recommended by school officials.

“The children we serve are food insecure, which means they don’t necessarily know where they’re next meal will come from,” she said.

About 15.7 percent of North Carolinians lived in food insecure households in 2010, according to the Food Research and Action Center, that’s up from 12.6 percent in 2007.

“I think the need continues to grow,” she said. “If you look at hunger statistics over the past two to five years, you’ll see them incrementally growing as the recession is extended and people are using up the cushion they had.”

Food prices rising

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of food rose 0.5 percent from April to May of this year. It’s expected to increase by up to 4 percent by the end of 2011.

Goodnight purchases the food for the backpacks on a monthly basis through Food Lion. The store allows her to receive a bulk discount for the items.

She looks at the nutritional value of the food and tries to order items that are low in sodium and high in calcium and protein. Everything she orders is easy to prepare and typically requires just a microwave.

After the food is delivered to the store, volunteers from Milford Hills United Methodist Church pick it up and take it to their church. Each school has a sponsor group that picks up the food from the church and packs it each Wednesday.

It’s dropped off at the schools every Thursday and sent home with the students Friday.

Goodnight said she hopes the program will eventually be available at every school.

“It’s our belief that by supporting students that we’re not just impacting them nutritionally, we also helping them be more attentive and productive in school,” she said. “Certainly a child who is hungry is less engaged.”’

Food for Our Families

Donna Wiseman, the Communities in Schools site coordinator at North Rowan, decided the school should launch its own feeding program after reading about Food for Thought.

She sat down with the school administration and guidance counselors to brainstorm a way to help out.

“We came up with the idea to do something for the whole family rather than just the student,” she said.

Next, Wiseman sent out letters to local churches asking them to adopt a family. Seven churches responded and the program got under way in 2009.

Every month, churches collect enough food to feed an entire family.

“It’s not meant to feed the family for the entire month, it’s meant to allow that family to stretch their food dollars,” she said.

And Wiseman said the program has grown to include other items families might need, like socks or laundry detergent. Some churches even include extra treats around the holidays.

“It’s grown into so much more than we ever imagined,” she said. “It’s just been a blessing all the way around.”

Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.

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