Kinston church, LCPS team up to bridge weekend hunger gap
Ted Berry, foreground, and Aaron Dale sort food items as Kinston’s First Presbyterian Church prepares Backpack Buddies packages for students at three LCPS middle schools. The program, which launched last week by sending out 66 backpacks, is designed to help bridge the hunger gap for students when they’re away from school for the weekend.
More than 60 backpacks stuffed not with school supplies but with “healthy, nutritious and fun food” went out to three LCPS middle schools last week in a project spearheaded by Kinston’s First Presbyterian Church that aims to help bridge the hunger gap for students when they’re away from school for the weekend.
Backpack Buddies – which is focusing of students in need at Woodington, EB Frink and Rochelle middle schools in its early efforts – grew out of a desire by church members to “use our facilities in ways that bring about community impact and community good,” the Rev. Travis Allen, church pastor, said. In conversations with Lenoir County Public School administrators, a need and potential solution came into sharp focus.
“When we were meeting, we realized one of the biggest problems that Lenoir County residents face is food insecurity,” Allen said. “We know that children that go to school every day experience food insecurity. More often than not, we know there are children who are going hungry when they are not in school.”
With the help of school counselors and teachers, LCPS promoted the program on behalf of the First Presbyterian as the school year began and collected applications from parents interested in receiving the assistance.
As church members packed the first shipment of backpacks last week, the requests for aid grew by a third.
Thirty-three backpacks went home with students at Woodington Middle, according to Caroline Suddreth, the school’s digital learning specialist who’s coordinating Woodington’s part in the program.
“The students were elated to have food that they can prepare on their own and snacks to enjoy over the long weekend,” Suddreth said. “Parents have been extremely receptive and grateful for this opportunity. This program is needed by our students as food insecurity impacts our middle schoolers as well as those across our district.”
The 66 students served last week reflect a fraction of the need, according to Allen – a realization that defines the challenge that First Presbyterian faces as it works to sustain and expand Backpack Buddies.
“We know we can’t do it on our own and we’re inviting members of the community to participate going forward,” Allen said. “We definitely need resources from the community to cover the cost of food.”
The grocery bill for Backpack Buddies, even before its hoped-for expansion into LCPS elementary schools, could run as much as $2,000 a month.
Signing on to help is simple. Donations, in the form of checks made payable to First Presbyterian Church, can be mailed to the church at 2101 N. Herritage St., Kinston, NC 28501. People interested in volunteering can call the church at 522-1921 or email info@fpckinston.org.
First Presbyterian has already anted up by footing the bill for the initial outlay of food items, by recruiting church members to pack the items and, as Allen said, by covering “the cost of the resources needed to designate space needed as a packing and distribution hub.” That’s all in addition to the months of planning time that has gone into Backpack Buddies, an outgrowth of a sixth-month study that a team from the church undertook as part of the Church and Community Placemaking Lab, a project of the Ormond Center at the Duke University School of Divinity.
Essentially, the study looked at how churches used their facilities and how they could better use them for the good of their community. Once the First Presbyterian planning team expanded to include people “outside the church” – including LCPS Associate Superintendent Frances Herring and Felicia Solomon, the district’s student services and equity officer – they began to narrow their focus.
“They really wanted to do some outreach with children,” Herring said of the church team. “We just helped them facilitate the communication with the middle schools.”
Once the team began to focus on students’ food insecurity, they didn’t have far to look to find a model of success.
For a decade or more, Sharon United Methodist Church has provided weekend meals to eligible students at Contentnea-Savannah K-8 School. That partnership between CSS and Sharon, which is continuing this year with about 50 backpacks going home each weekend, proved to be a valuable source of information for First Presbyterian, down to the particulars of the best food items to put into the backpacks.
Typically, a backpack from First Presbyterian includes shelf-stable milk, fruit and vegetable cups, Pop Tarts, juice boxes, cereal bars, apple sauce and quick-fix items like microwavable mac and cheese and Chef Boyardee Pop Tops, among other items.
“We are hopeful this is something that will impact the students in need and help provide them healthy, nutritious and fun food to have when they’re away from school – and also enable them to be ready to learn when they return to school on Monday and give them the foundation they need so they can learn,” Allen said.
The church team plans to evaluate the program in about a month to determine its future direction. If growth into elementary schools is an option, LCPS “will be there to facilitate an expansion of the Backpack Buddies program,” Herring said.
“We’re hoping that other churches, other service organizations will join us in this effort, not just with their time but also with their financial resources so we can expand,” Allen said.
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