PIUMC and Pantry to provide lunches during summer break
In a mission to see that “no child goes hungry” the Pine Island United Methodist Church provides meals for school-aged children on weekends. Beginning earlier this year, church volunteers organized a backpack program for the students at Pine Island Elementary School and has become a big success. Each Friday, the members of PIUMC deliver up to 180 backpacks to the school filled with nutritious kid-friendly meals and snacks to provide breakfasts and lunches to children in need over the weekend.
“We learned that more than 70 percent of the students at Pine Island Elementary School are on the free or reduced lunch/breakfast program at the school and one day while sitting at my desk I had an idea,” said Pastor Ed Kellum. “I felt as though the children were crying out in hunger and God said I needed to do something about it. I immediately went to the school to speak with the principal about it. He agreed the need was there and after our discussion, even though I had no plans for how this was going to come about, we decided we should start the program in the fall of 2010. Then on Nov. 22, I made an announcement to our congregation and while we had no model to work from, we all felt that it was unacceptable for children to go hungry and volunteers stepped forward to develop a program.”
After collecting funding, purchasing backpacks and developing a plan, the volunteers began the backpack program on Jan. 22.
“That first Friday we sent about 215 filled backpacks to the school and offered them to every student,” said Kellum. “The only literature pack in the backpacks was a letter to the parents explaining what we had planned to do and asked that if they did not want to participate to send us a note to let us know. Much to my surprise, those who said that they did not need the assistance not only sent us a note, but many of them also returned the backpacks with all of the original contents. We now send 180 backpacks to the school each week.”
The backpacks contain items like individual servings of cereal, macaroni and cheese, Ramen noodles, soups, apple sauce, pudding, cheese and crackers and other items children enjoy.
Each Monday the children are asked to return the backpacks to school where they are picked up and then refilled by church members.
The backpacks are presented to the children confidentially and the privacy of the child and his or her family is always respected, according to Kellum.
The off shoot of the backpack program is greater attendance at school on Fridays.
“Principal Mazzoli told me recently that this program has had something of a domino affect. It seems that the absentee rate on Friday is only about 4 percent and test scores have improved substantially because Friday’s are typically test days,” said Kellum. “I was blown away by this, and I am very pleased. I have to extend thanks to my congregation for their dedication and hard work as well as to the Pine Island community for their financial support of the program.”
As the school year winds to a close, the volunteers at PIUMC have begun working toward continuing and even expanding the program through the summer months.
“We have now partnered with the Pine Island Food Pantry so that we can continue providing meals to the children,” said Pastor Kellum. “Our aim is to provide seven days of meals for the children and the parents will be able to pick up our summer totes for the kids right here at the church.”
Pantry treasurer, Barb La Plante said that with the help of the Pine Island community and partnering with PIUMC, free meals will help dozens of island families this summer.
“For the first time, there will be a summer program for the children at Pine Island Elementary School thanks to the efforts of the United Methodist Church and the pantry,” said La Plante. “Each week, when the youngsters begin their summer vacation from school, they will come to the church and receive food and snacks to help them until they return to school in the fall.”
Drawing from a vast network of volunteers, several different groups from the church pitch in to prepare food packages each week. The process begins when food is purchased by volunteers and brought to a storage area at the church. It is then sorted into bins by the church youth group and on the day prior to pick up, another group packs each bag with items to be picked up.
To support the summer food program, PIUMC is planning to host several fund raisers to solicit the support of the community.
“We are hoping to make this a community effort so that the island at large can be a part of the success story,” said Pastor Kellum. “We won’t just be a flash in the pan and realize that this is, perhaps, a 20-year commitment. With the help of our island residents and businesses, we know this can happen.”
Those who would like to make a contribution to the children’s food program can call the Pine Island United Methodist Church at 283-2386 or the Pine Island Food Pantry at 283-1979.