Springfield (KMTR) - A program on Oregon’s coast to make sure elementary school kids from low-income families don't go hungry has inspired a similar program in Springfield.
NewsSource 16 first told the story about South Coast Food Share's “Snack Pack” program, in January.
Oregon Coast Community Action, with help from other local organizations, collects, packs and helps distribute ready-to-eat food for kids in the local schools’ free and reduced-price lunch program, so they won't go hungry on the weekends. That program now serves students in nine schools and helps 450 kids in need from Reedsport to Brookings.
Our story moved one viewer so much; she decided to bring the program up to the Eugene-Springfield area.
Springfield's Maple Elementary is the first school in the Willamette Valley to have the program, but the way things are going, it certainly will not be the last.
The snacks are packed for 50 kids at Maple Elementary and will continue to be packed for the entire school year.
Springfield School Superintendent Nancy Golden told us, “We had a number of children who didn't want to go home on the weekend, because, what they would say is, ‘I wouldn't get any food if I go home.’ So to have that problem, you just want to find a solution.”
That solution is the Snack Pack which contains non-perishable non-refrigerated food given to those kids in need.
“The items in the pack are all kid-friendly, so they have easy-tear packaging. It’s easy to prepare; you don't need an adult, you don't need a stove,” explains Karen Edmonds of FOOD for Lane County.
Umpqua Bank's Trudi Deveraux brought the Snack Pack program to the Willamette Valley. As the Snack Pack coordinator, Devereaux says it takes about $8,500 to feed 50 children during 40 weeks of school.
“It’s very hard without tearing up, but that was the most important thing—was really being able to take care of these little kids that... It’s hard to describe… It just makes me feel good to know that instead of sitting back, we actually did something about it,” said Devereaux.
The fact that this is a need surprised some volunteers like Jim Ginger who do the packing.
“When we realized what the need was, I mean, just this amount of kids at this one school, and then you multiply that times all the schools that are out there, you see that it's a pretty great need,” said Ginger.
Nancy Golden adds, “When you see that their basic needs aren’t taken care of, you could feel helpless. And that's what great about this: When you find partners you can engage with and make things happen it gets you into action so you move from a feeling of helplessness to a feeling of possibility.”
“I want this program to grow. I refuse to let it die,” Devereaux says. “There are many, many more children that can benefit from this program. And let’s help end child hunger—it’s just not right!”
Both Snack Pack programs are always looking for help so that more kids can be fed.
For more information in Lane County, contact FOOD for Lane County. On the southern Oregon coast, contact South Coast Food Share via Oregon Coast Community Action.
