by Joyce Mills
This is a hypothetical story about Jessie – a 5 year old girl who could be living next door. It could also be a story about any of the 22 children who receive a backpack filled with nutritious food for the weekend. These 22 children go to Beckley Elementary and are in need of extra food to get through the weekend. They are in grades Kindergarten to 5TH grade. They pick their backpack up each Friday.
This could be a day in any of their lives as one of the roughly 16 million children in America dealing with hunger. We must continue to help children avoid the struggles that come with an empty stomach.
7:30 AM Jessie wakes up for another day of kindergarten. She didn’t get much food last night, and this morning she is extra groggy. It is the end of the month and Mom hasn’t been able to get groceries yet because she is waiting for her next paycheck. So Jessie heads to school on an empty stomach. Despite being hungry, Jessie is excited to start her school day.
10 AM The teacher is explaining the alphabet. Reading is Jessie’s favorite subject – but she can’t seem to focus.
12 PM It is hard for Jessie to watch the other kids unpacking their lunches. Still, she is grateful that the school provides breakfast and lunch every day for her and many other children. She knows she can count on breakfast and lunch everyday at school. The weekend is another story!
Isn’t it a great feeling to know that we are helping 22 children have a better weekend?
For the month of November please donate Peanut Butter in plastic jars -16-18 oz. will work fine. We appreciate your monetary gifts and certainly the food donations each month. Just leave the Peanut Butter on the back counter in the church kitchen.