On October, 26th at 10:30am, Robbie Stefka, board member of the North Platte Public Schools Foundation, presented a one-thousand dollar check to Mandy Brandes, Healthy Schools Healthy Kids Coordinator with the West Central District Health Department, as the first donation to kick off the fundraiser, ‘Adopt-A-Backpack’ which will help fund the WCDHD’s Backpack Program.
The Backpack Program provides food for hungry children on weekends and school vacations. When staff members at local elementary schools identify hungry students, they communicate with the health department so that the student may take home a bag that has been supplied with nonperishable & perishable food to take home on Friday afternoons which includes two breakfast meals, two lunch or dinner meals and are delivered to participating schools by volunteers.
According to the news release from Kirsten Parker, Campaign Co-Chair of the Adopt-A-Backpack fundraiser, there are children on a waiting list for the program,
“Currently over 150 backpacks go out each week with kids on the waiting list. Our goal with the Adopt-A-Backpack campaign is raise the funds so every child in need will have a backpack! Our goal is raise $10,000 by December 31st, which will provide an additional 35 backpacks per week, for a year available for kids in need. We are promoting to businesses to “Adopt-A-Backpack” for a year for $288, 3 backpacks for $864 or 5 for $1,440. Each backpack is valued at approximately $6 per bag, per week, per child.”
Being hungry impairs a child’s ability to learn, you can help our future leaders learn and live a less hungry life by helping the Adopt-A-Backpack fundraiser reach ten-thousand dollars raised by December 31st.