The Community Foundation of Greene County (CFGC) announced that over $2,000 was donated to CFGC for the Weekend Backpack Food Program. The Weekend Backpack Food Program assists all Greene County students, K-12, who are food insecure to have food to eat over the weekend.
According to Dave Calvario, CFGC Executive Director, “Since 65-70% of Greene County school-aged children qualify for free or reduced meals (breakfast and lunch) while at school, this allows them to have full stomachs Monday-Friday. But the next question that we must ask then is, what happens over the weekend? What do school-aged children eat if there is little to nothing at home? Lack of food over the weekend causes learning problems come Monday morning since there are so many households in Greene County who qualify for free or reduced meals at school.”
Since 2012, the Community Foundation of Greene County has served as the fiscal sponsor for the Weekend Backpack Food Program. CFGC works closely with the five school districts food service directors and our local community to keep this program funded and operational.
Myleen McCollum, retired teacher/librarian from West Greene and GCASR Publicity Chair, said, “GCASR has supported the Weekend Backpack Food Program for more than 10 years. Our membership has been devoted to youth and their needs all of their lives from their homes to their work experiences. We are pleased to continue our support and benevolence to this needed outreach.”
“The Weekend Backpack Food Program at Jefferson-Morgan continues to serve at-risk students and provide them with healthy and much needed food items during the weekend. Our goal is to help our students avoid weekend hunger,” says Andrea Henneman, Food Service Director at Jefferson-Morgan. All donations, no matter how big or small, go a long way in helping to meet the $50,000 cost to operate the Weekend Backpack Food Program, according to Calvario.
To learn more about the Weekend Backpack Food Program, or how to make a potential tax exempt gift to this Food Program, contact the Community Foundation by phone at 724-627-2010, email at cfgcpa@gmail.com or go to our website at www.cfgcpa.org.
The Community Foundation of Greene County (CFGC), a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2000, is the central philanthropic vehicle in Greene County for donations of various types and sizes. CFGC currently manages over $8 million in assets through more than 100 different endowed and restricted funds.