Blessings in a Backpack, a national, charitable, 501(C)(3) organization was originally founded in Kentucky when a teacher observed that children at her school, who participated in the free or reduced meal program, were returning to school on Mondays tired, hungry and not ready to learn. She came to understand that there was little or no food for the children to eat at home on the weekends. In 2008, Blessings in a Backpack, Inc. was formed to provide these students with backpacks of food that would provide three meals a day over the weekend.
A current resident of Milton, Lynn Floum had a natural desire to help the food insecure. "Feeding the hungry children in Houston was one of the philanthropic causes that was key to our family while growing up," said Lynn Kurtz Floum, program coordinator at Blessings in a Backpack - FAM Fund. After raising a growing family of her own and following the growth of Blessings in a Backpack nationally, Floum reached out to the national organization and started her own chapter for North Fulton, Blessings in a Backpack – FAM Fund.
This North Fulton chapter was established in April 2016 in honor of her parents and began serving one school with 15 children. Today, Blessings in a Backpack – FAM Fund is serving approximately 150 children in five schools in the North Fulton community every week.
Blessings in a Backpack – FAM Fund provides weekend food packed in plastic bags - and then given to the kids to put in their backpacks if they are in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades or the teachers/counselors place the food bags in the backpacks for the younger children. The program serves 150+ elementary school children at Hillside Elementary, River Eves Elementary, Esther Jackson Elementary, Vickery Mill Elementary and High Point Elementary in Fulton County. These are children who may otherwise have little or no food to eat on weekends during the school year.
Children in the Blessings in a Backpack program are identified by school counselors from those who qualify for a free or reduced-priced meal program. Blessings in a Backpack seeks to fulfill its mission by providing bags full of food to the children in need each Friday of the school year.
And then the COVID-19 crisis happened. And the needs increased. |
According to Floum, since the closing of Fulton county schools, the number of families the program is serving has doubled and is expected to triple by the first week of May. "We believe in this time of crisis, our food bags must try and meet the families needs as opposed to just the need of one child. We are currently packing food bags with 15 non-perishable food items along with produce bags filled in gallon ziplock bags containing apples, oranges, and kiwis in the fruit bag and potatoes, onions and carrots in the vegetable bags," said Floum.
As of, April 27, 2020, Blessings in a Backpack - FAM Fund is now providing more than 300 family food bags along with 200 bags of produce each week. And, now that kids aren't physically at school buildings, the program has learned to adjust to meet the location needs of its hungry children. "Since the closing of the schools, we are going to the families and meeting in parking lots and public places instead of the kids receiving the bags on Friday afternoon at school for the weekends," said Floum.
Due to the dramatic rise in the number of food bags needed; the need for packing volunteers has also increased substantially. The program has community volunteers packing five or six days a week at a workroom. "We are blessed to have so many community groups willing to help out, as well as individual families coming to pack!" said Floum.
As a result of the health pandemic, Blessings in a Backpack - FAM Fund is serving more than 300 families in need every week. "We, along with several community partners, are traveling to six different distribution sites, apartment communities and weekly hotels, every day of the week. We continue to pack and distribute every week; we refuse to give up!" said Floum.
The needs of Blessing in a Backpack - FAM Fund continues to grow as the world and community grapples with the impact of COVID-19. The program is constantly looking for packing volunteers, community members willing to tackle a food drive in their neighborhood or community, families to pack individual lunches at their own home to hand out in the community, and, of course, any financial donation is always appreciated.
FOR MORE INFORMATION |
If you are interested in learning more about Blessings in a Backpack or helping with its mission, contact: Lynn Kurtz Floum, program coordinator, Blessings in a Backpack - FAM Fund, Lkf@bellsouth.net or 770 316 4872.
You can also find Blessings in a Backpack on FACEBOOK or ONLINE.
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