The people working to establish the BackPack Program in Cook County schools were happy to accept a donation of $3,000 toward the program from the North Shore Federal Credit Union (NSFCU) on Tuesday, November 19. (L-R) NSFCU President Mark Summers, Commissioner and School Wellness Committee member Heidi Doo-Kirk, School Nurse Kay Borud, Cook County Extension Director Diane Booth, ISD 166 Pre-K-5th grade Principal Gwen Carman, NSFCU Community Outreach Coordinator Carol Youngberg and State Health Improvement Program (SHIP) Coordinator Kristen Wharton.
When Diane Booth of Cook County Extension Service heard about the “BackPack Program,” she realized this was something that could be tailored to fit Cook County. Through her work with children in community youth programming and in discussion with school nursing staff, she knew that there were children who were not getting enough healthy food over the weekend. She shared her concerns with others such as the ISD166 Wellness Committee and the ball got rolling on the “Nutrition on Weekends BackPack Program.”
“School nurse Kay Borud came to us and said, ‘We have a problem,’” said County Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk, a School Wellness Committee member. “The problem really came to light with the change of school to the four-day weeks with Fridays off. We needed to do something.”
The BackPack Program concept was developed in Arkansas in 1995 after a school nurse noticed hungry children coming to her with stomachaches and dizziness. The local food bank began to discreetly provide the school children with groceries in backpacks for them to carry home. The idea was approved as an official national program by the Feeding America Network in 2006 and there are now nearly 5,000 BackPack sites in existence, serving approximately 230,000 each year.
Locally, Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank, Feeding America Network’s local affiliate, partners with Duluth, Superior, Two Harbors and Silver Bay schools. Second Harvest agreed the program should be expanded to include Cook County. But some seed money was needed to get things started.
When Carol Youngberg, a Lake County school board member, as well as the community outreach coordinator for the North Shore Federal Credit Union (NSFCU), learned about the effort to reach other schools in the credit union’s service area, she felt it was something the credit union should do. She pitched the idea to NSFCU President Mark Summers. “I told Mark this is something we need to do,” said Youngberg.
The credit union board of directors agreed and donated $3,000 to the program at ISD 166 and $600 to Birch Grove Community School.
The North Shore Collaborative for Children and Families contributed another $2,000.
The goal is to start the BackPack Program in Cook County schools in January 2014, said Booth, but she said it would be better to start before Christmas vacation.
There was a lot of discussion on how the BackPack Program would work, explained ISD166 Principal Gwen Carman. She said a letter would go out to parents of students in kindergarten through 8th grade about free and reduced lunch programs and to let them know about the availability of the BackPack Program, which is based on eligibility for those lunch programs.
Booth will do the “shopping” for food items through Second Harvest and will receive the prepacked bags of food. School staff or volunteers will help deliver the food, which will be packaged in nondescript backpacks and placed in the child’s cubby or locker. Food distribution would occur on the last day of the school week to help fill the nutritional gap over the weekend.
Food items to be distributed would be easy to open, easy to prepare, and in individual or small serving sizes. Items include cereal, shelf-stable milk, 100 percent juices, canned entrees or soup, fruits, vegetables and snack items like granola bars, etc.
Operating the BackPack Program in the region requires over $112,000 in funding each year. A portion of funding comes from generous foundations like the Ordean Foundation, Minnesota Power Foundation, Northland Foundation, Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation and others. Businesses like the North Shore Federal Credit Union and organizations like North Shore Collaboration play a part. If you would like to learn more about supporting the BackPack Program, contact Diane Booth at (218) 387-3015 or email diane. booth@co.cook.mn.us.
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