July 30, 2013 • Page 7 shop online at www.missourivalleyshopper.com www.missourivalleyshopper.com Introducing Yankton Sack Pack Program As the summer begins to wind down, many of us start looking forward to another new school year. Our thoughts turn toward new school supplies, new school clothes and all the excitement that goes along with starting something new. Unfortunately there are those in our community who will not have that same excite­ ment. They will struggle with having enough to purchase the needed supplies and clothing for their children. This includes food as well. Our schools seek to help by providing students with free and reduced lunches. This program provides healthy well balanced meals for children on weekdays throughout the school year. But what hap­ pens to them on the week­ ends when the children are not in school and there is nothing at home for them to eat? The Yankton Sack Pack program seeks to address this need by providing students with nutritional, child­friendly food to take home for the weekend. The food chosen is shelf­sta­ ble, kid friendly and easily managed by the children. The food is usually packed on Wednesdays by volunteers and distributed to the schools on Fridays. All food is given to the children confidentially. Some commonly asked questions about the Sack Pack Program are: Is there a need for the Sack Pack Program in Yankton? that receive them. The answer is yes! There is a tremendous need. Yank­ ton’s School Districts rate for free and reduces lunches is at 44%. This equates to 1 in 4 children that are living below the poverty line. However, qualifying for free and re­ duced meals is not a require­ ment for the program. Our program refers to percentages only because they tend to be in line with the number of stu­ dents we provide packs to. This also allows us to formu­ late a budget each year so we know how many children we will be able to provide meals to. No. The Sack Pack Program is free to the school and fami­ lies of children in need. Is there a cost to the school or families? What does this program mean to the children who receive them? Who is eligible for the program? All students are eligible for the Sack Pack Program who feel they have a need. As a program, we do not want to put restrictions on who can qualify, such as, qualifying for free and reduced lunches. The SD School Lunch Program income guideline states that if a family earns even $1.00 over the income guideline, they don’t quality. In many cases, these are the families that need the program the most. Who pays for the food? These packs mean the dif­ ference between going hun­ gry and having good nutrition over the weekend. Many ed­ ucators will tell you that good nutrition is vital to children’s ability to learn. Children who return to school on Mondays that have had adequate food over the weekend are more alert and ready to learn when they return from the week­ end. One principal reported that a student did not feel well one Friday but came to school anyway because they knew if they didn’t come to school, they would not be able to pick up their Sack Pack. Hence this student would have gone without food for the week­ end. This shows how impor­ tant this food is to the children The Sack Pack Program buys all the food that goes into the packs. Funds for the Sack Pack are provided ONLY by community support as well as a grant from our local United Way. The Sack Pack Program also holds food drives a couple times a year. Last year we re­ ceived over 1000 pounds of food through our food drive events at HyVee. We will be holding another food drive this fall so please be watch for us at the entrances of HyVee! We also hold peanut butter drives through the school year. This allows us to put jars of peanut butter in packs over long breaks such as, Christmas and Easter. We try to include larger amount of food in packs over these long breaks. Kids against Hunger also donates food packs to the program a couple times a year. These food packs help to feed an en­ tire family. All of these do­ nations are made by the generous people of our com­ munity. What schools are participating? We are currently providing meals at Webster, Lincoln, Beadle, Stewart and Sacred Heart Elementary Schools. We will be adding the Yank­ ton Middle School this fall. This has been a request for several years and our program is so happy that we have the budget this year to make this happen. How many children are participating? With the addition of the Yankton Middle School, we are anticipating on providing over 350 weekly packs to stu­ dents this school year. What is the cost to provide meals to a child each week? Each weekly pack has an average cost of $3.75. It cost roughly $150.00 to sponsor one child for a school year. This amounts to $1,312.50 per week to provide packs to 350 students. ($5,250 per month) What is included in each pack? A typical pack has 2 juice boxes, 2 breakfast items, 2 en­ trée items, 2 snacks, can of vegetables and a fresh fruit. For example, a weekly pack meals. We live in an amazing community and we have been blessed with awesome donors and volunteers that help make this program the success that it is. If you would like to make a donation to the Sack Pack Pro­ gram you can mail your dona­ tion to: Sack Pack Program; P.O. Box 7038; Yankton, SD 57078 or by calling 661­7993. We would very much like to visit with you or your organi­ zation and share all of the var­ ious ways people can join our effort. This can be arranged by calling 661­7993. would contain: 2 juice boxes, single serving size of cereal, pack of oatmeal, single serving of mac & cheese, can of ravi­ oli, can of vegetables, granola bar, box of raisins and a piece of fresh fruit. We have a ro­ tating menu so there is a vari­ ety of different foods each week. How can people get involved? 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