At a time when children should be at their energetic best, exploring their world and participating in all manner of school activities, too many of Nassau County’s students are primarily thinking about where their next meal is coming from.
One in four children in Northeast Florida is considered food insecure. That insecurity is keeping these children from learning and achieving their best in and outside of the classroom.
A new collaborative project helps take a bite out of this problem through Barnabas’ assistance. This past school year brought the launch of the SnackPack program to Nassau County schools. Grants awarded in 2016 by the Walmart Foundation and the Bank of America Charitable Foundation provided more than 9,000 pounds of nutritious food that was distributed to 328 local food-challenged school children.
The more than 5,036 SnackPacks that were distributed contained child-friendly items like fresh fruit, granola bars and peanut butter. The food was purchased from Feeding Northeast Florida and delivered to Nassau County public schools. Most of these children also benefit from free or reduced school lunches Monday through Friday. The SnackPack program is meant to bridge the gap over the weekends and school holidays.
Y. Michelle McGriff, senior director of partnerships and program development at Feeding Northeast Florida, reports that each SnackPack weighs approximately 1.5 pounds and contains enough food to provide two meals over the weekend.
Locally, the SnackPack program is administered by Angela Mcclellan, manager of the Families in Transition program and homeless liaison for Nassau County Schools. Local teachers have identified the children with the most acute needs and have targeted this program for them. Mcclellan receives notes and emails weekly from teachers and children’s parents, who report that the students are benefitting greatly from this program.
One such note reads, “Thank you so much for this program and the hard work you put in. I have two students that look forward to their bags every week. It is truly a blessing to them.”
While the SnackPack program was successful during the 2016-17 school year, it lacks adequate funding to continue when school resumes. Barnabas searched for continuation funding to serve the more than 500 local school children who meet the federal definition for homelessness.
While another $5,000 grant has been awarded by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation to help support the SnackPack program, much more is needed to fully fund the program and achieve the goal of eliminating child hunger in Nassau County.
To help feed Nassau County’s food-challenged children, donate to Barnabas Center at http://barnabasnassau.org/donate or contact Tania Yount, chief development officer, at 904-261-7000, ext. 107.