By Gary Lloyd
The Weekenders Backpack program, part of the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, has expanded this school year at Chalkville Elementary School.
Last school year, at the end of every other week, qualified students received a “blue bag” with food for the weekend. This year, however, qualified students will receive one of the bags at the end of each week, said Chalkville Elementary School Counselor Lynn Wasylenko. The weekly program begins Wednesday at Chalkville and Green Valley Elementary School in Hoover.
The Weekenders Backpack program provides healthy, nutritious food options for children on the weekends and holidays that otherwise might not have food available.
The Weekenders Backpack program since 2007 has provided kid-friendly bags of food for elementary students to take home every other weekend. Each child who qualifies for the program has to be identified by a school counselor or teacher as being food insecure, a term that means the child may not have access to adequate meals on the weekends.
About 73 percent of the student body at Chalkville last year qualified for free or reduced lunches. There will be 24 students who will participate in the Weekenders Program this year.
In March, Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood employees teamed with Clay-Chalkville High School students from their Future Business Leaders of America association to pack weekend meals for elementary school students. They packed almost 1,900 meals for the Weekenders Backpack program.
For more information about the Weekenders Program or the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, visit www.FeedingAL.org.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.