Backpacks Help Feed Hungry Kids All Weekend Long

A few years ago, we posted an article about a program that provided some school kids with backpacks of healthful foods to take home on the weekend. The backpacks filled a gap for those students and families by ensuring that kids would show up Monday morning hungry for learning, not for food. [Read the article, For Hungry Kids, Backpacks Lighten the Load].

Back in 2007, backpack programs like the ones described in that article dotted the landscape of U.S. schools. Since that article first appeared, though, the number of programs has grown by truckloads. Witness this handful of headlines I’ve spotted in local newspapers in just the past few weeks:

• Food Bank’s Backpacks Help Feed Hungry Students
  The San Diego Food Bank has expanded their Food 4 Kids Backpack Program to 800 students in 22 schools.


• Program Would Send Food Home With Students
  The Brush, Colorado, Board of Education authorized the implementation of the “Blessings in a Backpack Program” to meet the needs of students who don’t always have enough to eat at home.


• Two County Schools Start Backpack Programs
  Two North Carolina schools are joining others in their county that provide families with easy-to-prepare foods for the weekends and holidays when students cannot eat breakfast and lunch at school.


• Help Sought to Expand BackPack Program
  The Connecticut FoodBank is seeking community support to expand the local reach of the Kids' BackPack Program, which launched last spring at two schools with sponsorship from General Electric.


• Tanner Foundation Helps Keep Kids From Going Hungry
  A foundation’s $10,000 grant will help one South Carolina primary school give students what they need through their Backpack Program.

In 2008, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that 16 million U.S. children live in “food insecure” households [source]. Knowing what we know about our country’s economy, a growing unemployment rate has likely increased that need -- which explains why we’re seeing more and more about backpack programs in local news headlines.

“A backpack program is a natural solution to a need,” says Karrie Denniston, director of programs for Feeding America, a charity dedicated to feeding hungry Americans through a network of more than 200 food banks. “A backpack program is one of those programs that gets to the heart of a need and fills it.”

Whether backpack programs are organized by PTOs, churches, food banks or other groups, they are filling a deep need and helping to improve students health and achievement.

MORE INFORMATION
For more information about Feeding America’s backpack efforts, view the video at the bottom of this blog entry. For more information about backpack programs, click the links below.

Backpack Programs
Learn more about Feeding America’s BackPack Program, which is designed to meet the needs of hungry children at times when other resources are not available, such as weekends and school vacations.

For Hungry Kids, Backpacks Lighten the Load
Students who are disruptive, can't concentrate, or lack motivation may not need a firm hand; they might need a helping hand! With the help of communities, the simple remedy is a backpack -- a school standby -- that is filled with food supplies to help kids get the fuel they need to flourish. Included: Advice from successful backpack programs.

Perks for Parent Involvement Can’t Be a Bad Thing

A new program in Detroit has been making news headlines. The "I'm In" program rewards parents with points for attending workshops and participating in other activities at the District’s eight Parent Resource Centers. The points parents accumulate on their "I'm In" cards can be traded for discounts at local businesses. Read more…

But are bribes really needed to get parents involved in their child’s education? some detractors ask. That involvement is part of being a parent and raising a child, they say. Knowing you are actively involved should be enough of a reward.

Besides, they add, everyone knows that incentives don’t work.

Those detractors make good points, but anyone who has taught in or led a school with a large population of poor, immigrant, or minority families would not be so quick to judge. Educators in those schools know the hurdles that poor families face, and they bend over backwards to include those families in school activities and to support them in other ways.

They know what the research says, too: When parents are involved in their children’s education, those kids have higher grades and standardized test scores, improved behavior, and better social skills.

Plus, any program that is able to actively engage local businesses with area schools is a win-win for the entire community.

     > > > > Scroll down the page for links to
                   dozens of parent involvement ideas

So why wouldn’t schools want to offer incentives to get hard-to-reach parents involved? Offering incentives can make a difference by showing those parents that schools care enough to go the extra mile. There’s nothing wrong with giving a little incentive to get parents to show up. Doing that can go a long way toward increasing parents' comfort levels and eliminating negative feelings they might have toward schools in general or their own abilities to help their children achieve.

And who knows? A few of those parents might even decide to stay involved. Then schools can urge those parents to bring others along.

ENGAGING THE WHOLE COMMUNITY

Let's give Detroit credit for trying to turnaround their schools and trying a few experiments to get parents and others involved in that effort. The video below, produced by the district, is one more piece of its "I'm In" campaign, which is intent on highlighting the district's schools and promoting community engagement.




PARENT INVOLVEMENT IDEAS

Seventy-Five Ideas to Build Parent Involvement and Support [might require free registration]

68 Parent Involvement Ideas That Really Work [pdf]

More Ideas for Parent Involvement

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Parent Involvement in Schools
Parent involvement in schools is much more than parent conferences and PTOs. These articles from Education World’s archive share practical ways in which schools are involving parents. These strategies are working for others -- and they could work for you.

Got Three Hours? A School Needs You
This Education World article shares news of Three for Me, a parent involvement program that can help get parents more involved in your school. Included: Tips for getting dads involved.

Parent Involvement Checklist
Does your school do a good job of reaching out to parents? If you can do some more work in this area, these resources from Project Appleseed -- including the Parent Involvement Pledge -- are sure to help.

Parent Involvement Activities in School Improvement Plans
This study of Title I schools in the Northwest Region (U.S.) identifies effective and potentially effective parent involvement activities. [pdf]

Parent Involvement Activities for Transition
These 20 activities can help involve parents at all levels, but particularly those parents who want to support students as they make the transition to middle or high school. [pdf]