Rapid City Journal: BackPack Program continues through the summer in Rapid City

The assembly line moved quickly at the Community Food Bank as nearly 30 volunteers filled bags with food Thursday for children who would otherwise go hungry on the weekends.

“Any child who is on the free or reduced lunch program at school can qualify for the BackPack Program,” said Renee Parker, executive director for United Way of the Black Hills. “The kids get a bag of food every Friday that they can take home for the weekend so that they have food.”

Parker said the program started when it was discovered that on Mondays, schools and agencies such as the Rapid City Club for Boys, Girls Inc., and Youth & Family Services were going through twice as much food as any other day.

“We found out quickly that the reason was because these kids were so hungry from the weekend,” Parker said. “They asked the kids about it, and they said that there was very little to eat on the weekends.”

Each child will receive a bag of food with two entrees, two 100 percent juice packs, two fruits, two cereals, and four or five snack options.

“This is not just for kids whose parents aren’t taking care of them or are neglecting them,” said LaLaina Williams, coordinator of the BackPack Program. “I have friends whose children are on the BackPack Program, and they have said how beneficial it is for their families.”

Many of the programs, like the Rapid City Club for Boys, and Girls, Inc., provide the children with a meal in the summer that organizers have found is often their only meal. Unfortunately, the clubs are not open on weekends.

“A lot of kids that leave on Friday don’t really get much until Monday,” said Scott Bader, executive director for the Club for Boys. “I really hope that we can get backpacks to every kid in need.”

Bader anticipates having 350 to 380 children in the Club for Boys’ program this summer, and they will be provided with breakfast, lunch and a snack. Children between 5 and 18 can eat for free. On the weekends, however, they will be dependent on their families or the backpacks for food.

“Those kids can’t determine their destiny, and they don’t have any control on what’s in the cupboards,” Parker said. “Older students can work a little bit, but the young ones really have no control over the situation, so it’s important that we can find them some food.”

United Way board members and volunteers spent Thursday packing food for the program.

“It feels really great that I can help some underprivileged kids have food,” Heather Quasney, a United Way board member who was helping Thursday, said. “It’s an excellent way to volunteer, and it really doesn’t feel like work. I enjoyed it.”

Other longtime volunteers said that, even though they have never met the children they are helping feed, they know it helps.

“The children’s home life doesn’t change in the summer, so I think it was really great that we continue the BackPack Program into the summer and not just the school year,” said Goldie Prestjohn, a Black Hawk resident who has been volunteering for four years. “We have a good time doing it, and we’re really helping them, I think.”

Funding for this summer’s program is through the United Way.

“The United Way board decided that we had some additional dollars to distribute, and it’s always hard to decide who gets that, but the summer BackPack Program touches so many lives,” Parker said. “What better way to touch lives than to feed hungry kids?”

Parker emphasized the importance of generating donations for the program.

“It’s our hope and prayer that people will see the importance of it,” Parker said. “We need monetary donations, not food donations, because we select healthy and easy-to-make foods. Just any donation of food won’t work for this program.”

It costs about $3.75 a week to provide a backpack of food for one child and $184 for one year of food.

“A lot of the kids in the program live in motels and don’t have access to microwaves, which is why we select some of the foods that we do,” Parker said.

She emphasized that children who are well-fed are more receptive to learning.

“How can we teach them anything if they are hungry?” Parker asked. “Food in their tummies makes their minds open for learning, and that’s really what we want, … to see these kids grow up healthy.”

Contact Ruth Brown at 394-8329 or ruth.brown@rapidcityjournal.com.

To see the story in its original form at the Rapid City Joural online, click here.