Meals for Kids (the "Backpack" Program)
Across this great land there are thousands upon thousands of children who leave school every Friday and who do not eat again until the have breakfast Monday morning in the school cafeteria. This means that these youngsters miss seven consecutive meals. This "weekends-without-food" phenomenon produces a state of continuing malnutrition that results in academic and social deficiencies and failures.
Citizens through out the western Arkansas- eastern Oklahoma area have taken a stand to end such childhood hunger by adopting a simple and straightfowar slogan that "No Child Should Ever Go Hingary." From this slogan has arisen the Meals For kids Backpack Program.
| FORGETFUL FRIDAYOne Friday afternoon a school counselor, as was her weekly routine, was passing out pre-packaged sacks of food to be placed in the backpacks of the school's pupils who were involved with the Meals For Kids Program. As she finished handing out the food, she was surprised to see that she had a sack of food left. In searching her memory, she was confident that she had seen all the Backpack... |
IT'S A GIFTA new 3rd-grader by the name of Andy was enrolled in an area school, and an academic assessment was quickly conducted within a matter of days. Sadly, the results of Andy's assessment were bleak and indicated that the young student would need special education and remedial services. However, the teacher who had worked with Andy up to that point felt that he was more capable and had... |
| NOW THAT'S SPECIALThe appreciation of the children for the Meals For Kids Program is evident. In one school, the formerly low-achieving children who were receiving the weekend meals approached their principal one day and asked "How do we go about forming our own club?" The principal was curious and asked why they wanted to do this. "Because," they replied, "We're there for each other. We... |
TWO GOLDEN WORDSBilly had always been a lethargic, withdrawn little boy with few social skills and dubious study habits. His drawings were immature and his penmanship was atrocious. He was the kid that was always left out of games, was always chosen last for a team and was only chosen because the teacher made the others include him. The truth is, he would prefer not to be chosen at all. He... |
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