Sustaining weekend survival kits

Thousands of kids could go hungrier after a food delivery program for elementary school children ends.

Posted
Over 17,000 children in Ingham Countyelementary schools — the poorest of the poor, including over 1,800children in Lansing schools alone — have lost food after a program thatprovided them with food for the weekend shut down last month.

The Weekend Survival Kit program provided participatingelementary school kids with backpacks of food for the weekend twice amonth to supplement the family’s food at home, said Kathe Smith,operations manager at the Mid-Michigan Food Bank. Children had toparticipate in their elementary school’s free or reduced lunch andbreakfast program in order to qualify for a kit. The program began in2008.

“We really determined that if a family was in need offood that we wanted to give them a little bit extra so children were atleast eating breakfast, lunch and dinner (on the weekends),” Smith said.

The packs contained easy-to-make foods such as instantoatmeal, ravioli and macaroni and cheese, Smith said. The foods werepicked so that young children could be able to make food for themselvesif their parents weren’t home to help them. The packs also containednon-perishable milk that didn’t need to be refrigerated until it wasopened. Snacks include Pop-Tarts, popcorn and fruit cups.

At its peak, the program served 33Lansing-area elementary schools, including 12 in Lansing itself, Smithsaid. In the 2010-2011 school year, 17,252 children received backpackdeliveries of food, representing a 144 percent growth from the2009-2010 school year. Of those children, 1,861 were from the LansingSchool District.

“The need was growing by leaps and bounds,” Smith said.

The Lansing elementary schools thatparticipated in the program last school year were Bingham, Gier Park,North, Reo, Sheridan Road, Willow, Averill, Cumberland, Lewton, PostOak and Riddle. Shabazz Public School Academy and Woodcreek MagnetSchool also participated.

Donors, including the city of Lansing, funded theprogram, which cost about $80,000 last year, said Betsy Rueckert,financial development officer for the Mid-Michigan Food Bank. Over$65,000 came from donations made specifically for the Weekend SurvivalKits program. The rest came from general fund donations. The City ofLansing is listed on the organization’s donor list as contributing$1,000 or more, but Rueckert would not release the actual amount of thedonation or how much was for the program specifically.

The Mid-Michigan Chapter of the American Red Cross, whichoperates the Mid-Michigan Food Bank as a chapter service, provided thenecessary administrators to make the Weekend Survival Kits program runsmoothly, Rueckert said. However, in August, the American Red Crossmade cuts.

“This was one place where administrative expenses couldbe saved by not administering this program,” Ruekert said. “We arestill committed to feeding hungry children, we are still committed tofeeding hungry people. The process has to change.”

The Red Cross Central and NorthernMichigan region, which includes most of the state, had to cut $590,000from its regional budget this year, said Alison Bono, regional directorof communications. The organization determined that it needed to focuson its core programs, which do not include hunger.

“Children are still fed through the pantries, theshelters and soup kitchens,” Bono said. “These are tough timeseverywhere, and in order for the Food Bank to stay financially viable,they’ve had to focus more on the core missions and the public as awhole. We can’t focus on one group, unfortunately.”

But Jim Ramos, an AmeriCorps volunteer and food accessspecialist for the Lansing nonprofit NorthWest Initiative, said theprogram is essential. 

Ramos is determined to bring the Weekend Survival Kitprogram back for Riddle Elementary School, where he delivered bags. Hehopes to restore the program to all Lansing schools.

“Children are our future. Without them we don’t exist,”Ramos said. “You can’t have productive, intelligent people if they’restarving.”

Ramos’ personal experiences with hunger as a childcontribute to his passion for the program and his desire to see itsucceed, he said.

He remembers coming home from school toan empty refrigerator, even if it was only temporary until his parentscame home with groceries. He remembers eating Granny Smith apples andpeanut butter for a week when his younger brother was in the hospitaland his parents forgot to buy food because they were at his bedside. Heremembers making a conscious decision not to get seconds at dinner sohis mother would have something to eat.

“If it was up to me, no kid would have to make that decision,” Ramos said.

Sylvia Hernandez, principal at Riddle, said losing the packs is “detrimental to our kids’ health.”

“We know that they come to school hungry and if they cometo school hungry it means that they don’t get much food at home,” shesaid. “It gives us a piece of mind that these kids are getting anutritious meal at home.”

Hernandez said that kids’ eyes “light up” when Ramos and others delivered packs on Friday afternoons.

“It’s like a Christmas present come early,” she said. “The parents are happy too. It’s really a godsend for them.”

She said kids were receiving better grades and were ableto focus better in school this year because they weren’t coming toschool hungry on Monday morning after the weekend. She worried thatprogress would stop if the packs were no longer delivered.

“We have so many less kids that are hungry,” Hernandez said. “It makes a difference.”

Joy Baldwin, food systems projectmanager at NorthWest Initiative, said losing the survival kit programcouldn’t come at a worse time.

In October, 220,000 Michigan residentswill receive a food stamp reduction, she said. Cash assistance willalso be reduced and some people who have been depending on the programfor years to help put food on the table may lose their assistanceentirely.

“Now there’s going to be even greater need for theseweekend survival backpack kits,” Baldwin said. “We’ve seen the needwith the students so that’s why we’re not willing to let (the program)fail.”

But it won’t be easy. Once-a-monthdelivery for the 200 students at Riddle who participated would run aminimum of $754, Baldwin said. A weekly delivery would increase thatnumber to $3,000 a month. Ramos said he is raising money to make onedelivery there in October. In the past, the children received two inOctober.

Ramos and 10 other community leaders,including Joan Jackson Johnson, human relations director for Lansingcity government, Randy Bell of the Ingham County MSU Extension programand Paul Shaheen from the Ingham County food systems group, met lastweek to begin developing a plan to help sustain the program withouthelp from the American Red Cross. However, the city won’t contributefunding until a system is in place to distribute kits throughout theLansing School District, not just one school, Ramos said.

Bell said he might have found a temporary solution for aprogram coordinator. He proposed that one of Extension’s support staffemployees could run the program this school year to help get it back tothe 12 schools. The plan would be need approval from the Ingham CountyBoard of Commissioners.

“My hope would be that we can marshal what we need so wecan serve all the Lansing schools that participated in the past,” Bellsaid. “This isn’t just about hunger but it’s about economics and livingin a better community.”

Shaheen donated $1,000 to NorthWest Initiative so thatRamos could make an October delivery to Riddle School, one of thedistrict’s poorest.

“I feel like an outsider who’s just trying to help,”Shaheen said. “I know from my work that hungry kids don’t learn. If wewant them to learn and succeed we have to get them what they need.”

Bell said it would take the entirecommunity coming together and utilizing its resources, such asvolunteer labor, donations and food drives, to ensure the program staysself-reliant in the future.

“There’s a solution that’s going to come through withthis,” Bell said. “This is not an emergency but more of a communitycall to action so we can preserve something that benefits our kids.”

Make a contribution

NorthWest Initiative is looking for foodor monetary contributions to continue the Weekend Survival Kit programat Riddle Elementary.


Contact James Ramos at (517) 999-2894 or e-mail him at jramosfam@yahoo.com.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here




Connect with us