There are currently 40 students at local elementary schools on the waiting list for weekend meals provided by Food for Thought. The organization is seeking donations to begin serving those children as soon as possible.

Food for Thought and its volunteer partners distribute approximately 1,000 backpacks per month to some of the neediest children in 14 schools in the Rowan-Salisbury School System. Children receive backpacks on weekends and short holidays during the school year. The backpacks contain nutritious, kid-friendly foods for each day the child is away from school.

“At the beginning of the school year, we consider a number of factors as we allocate backpacks for each participating school,” said Tory Curran, executive director of Food for Thought. “These considerations include the number of students at each school receiving free lunch, an estimate of the percentage of children at each school who come from food–insecure households, the amount of donated funds which are earmarked to a particular school, as well as the anticipated fundraising budget for Food for Thought.

“Throughout the school year we have responded to additional need by expanding slots in existing schools as well as adding four new schools,” she said. “Unfortunately, with one of every four children living in poverty in Rowan County, the need continues to increase while we are still in the process of raising funds to cover existing service levels.”

Currently there are students on the waiting list for weekend meals at the following schools: Knollwood Elementary, Hanford-Dole Elementary, Overton Elementary, Shive Elementary, Isenberg Elementary, and Granite Quarry Elementary.

Food for Thought needs to raise $75 per child, or a total of $3,000, to meet this need for the remainder of the school year.

For more information, contact the Food for Thought office by phone at 704-633-3221, extension 216, or email info@ncfoodforthought.com.

One way to help is by taking part in the third-annual Food for Thought Bowling Classic fundraiser on Saturday, April 12, at Woodleaf Lanes.

The event will feature four-person teams competing in several categories: elementary school, middle school, high school, family and adult. The entry fee for elementary school teams are $15 per child; middle-school–age children through adults are $20 apiece.There will be trophies and door prizes.

There will two sessions. The first will be from noon to 2 p.m., the second from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Registration forms are available at Woodleaf Lanes, 1811 Jake Alexander Blvd. W., on the Food for Thought Facebook page, or on the web at ncfoodforthought.org. You may also call Glenn Hudson at 704–223-0385.