by Joyce Mills
It’s NOT okay to have hungry kids! As the Backpack Ministry was being developed, thought about, prayed about, talked about, I just couldn’t think of anything much worse than a child being hungry. It’s still unacceptable. It shames us. There’s plenty of money in Raleigh County, and plenty of poverty at the same time, and precious little “trickle down” from one to the other.
Poverty and hunger inflict enormous stresses on families. When kids go hungry, the family, the neighborhood, the whole community suffers. And just to be clear about one major point that some cynics might raise, the parent(s) almost always go hungry before their kids do. They sacrifice to feed their kids.
When food-deprived kids show up at school Monday mornings, it shows . They’re tired, lethargic, cranky. Their stomachs rumble. Fortunately, they get a week’s worth of good food at school…..and then comes the weekend.
So for the costs of two dinners for two at a fine restaurant, you can feed a kid for months. Or you can adopt a child and make sure he/she has weekend food. That would cost you around $30.00 a month or about $300 for a school year. As many of you know, we count our blessings for any amount that is given to this Ministry. ANY DONATION IS APPRECIATED……MONEY OR SPECIFIED FOOD!
For the month of OCTOBER, we would like you to donate individual Fruit Cups. Just place on the back counter in the kitchen and as you leave think about the fact that you are doing your part to help fix this problem.
YOU ARE APPRECIATED!