Meadow Lands Elementary School has received a gift of $8,000 from Christ Community Church to support the Backpack Feeding Program.
MLES partners with God’s Outreach Inc. to purchase food staples that are sent home with students in discreet backpacks every Friday. The packs include food items to provide meals over the weekend, including two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners and two snacks. Food items require little or no preparation, such as cereal, peanut butter, crackers, soup, raisins etc.
Christ Community Church has been a supporter of the MLES program for the past three years. This donation will allow the school to increase the number of participating students from 35 to 75.
MLES Family Resource Center coordinator Stephanie Keelin manages the Backpack Feeding Program at her school. “Thanks to this very generous gift, we will more than double the number of students we are able to serve and still have funds to start the program next school year,” Keelin said. “We are profoundly grateful to Christ Community Church for their continued support of this program.”
Principal Kevin Lowe said the program not only responds to a physical need among students at his school but also supports academic success for those children. “The students of Meadow Lands are successful because of the Family Resource Center and the support we receive from wonderful partners such as Christ Community Church,” Lowe said. “I can’t begin to express the joy in knowing that 75 students will not be hungry over the weekend. Now instead of worrying about what they will eat, or whether they will eat, they can simply be a kid. Whether over the weekend or when they return to school on Monday, these children will be able to focus on solving a math problem or completing a class project instead of being distracted by hunger. We are blessed to live in such a giving community as we have in Daviess County and continue to be overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from everyone. We are honored to be the first step in the student’s future as they become college and career ready.”
