Kids After School Packs

KIDS' AFTER-SCHOOL PACK PROGRAM

The Kids' After-School Pack program targets children from low-income families who are at risk of going hungry over the weekend. Once each week during the school year, kids are given special After-School Packs that are filled with non-perishable food. A typical pack, depending upon our Food Bank inventory, has contained items like: a protein (canned macaroni o's & beef, or beans & franks, or beef stew, or peanut butter or soup), fruit juice and usually an additional beverage, crackers. Nutri Grain bars, single serve cookies, single serve chips, individual boxes of cereal, pudding cups, and packets of instant oatmeal.

An After-School Pack can weigh 5 to 7 lbs., depending upon what's in it. The cost of the food included in a typical Kids' After-School Pack averages $3.50/pack. This does not include the cost of the cloth backpacks.

The packs are put together, assembly-line style. The packs average about 12 items, placed inside a strong plastic bag, which is then put inside the backpacks at the actual distribution site. Normally the packs are given out on Thursday or Friday. That way the children can take the food home for use over the weekend and return the packs to school, so the pack is ready for use the next week. Groups distributing the Kids' After-School Packs typically come to the Food Bank to pick them up.

As of the 2011-2012 school year, Kids After-School Pack sites include:

Franklin School (Battle Creek Public Schools)
Ann J. Elementary (via Post Foods)
Coburn Elementary (via Post Foods)

Albion Public Schools (via New Hope Church) - Kids' Backpack site
Edison, Lincoln, Milwood (via Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes)
Frost Elementary (Jackson Public Schools via Immanuel Lutheran)
Bean Elementary (via Queen Miraculous Medal)
Cascades Elementary (via Cascades PTA)
Parma Elementary (via Queen Miraculous Medal)
Warner Elementary (via Queen Miraculous Medal)
NorthWestern Elementary (via Queen Miraculous Medal)
Vicksburg Public Schools (via Generous Hands)
Other Kalamazoo County (including Mendon, Schoolcraft)
Richland Elementary (Gull Lake Schools via 1st Presbyterian, Richland
Union City Elementary
Mar-Lee Elementary (via Walters-Dimmick Petroleum)
Hughes Elementary (via Walters-Dimmick Petroleum)
Gordon Elementary
Walters Elementary
Constantine Elementary (via Abbott Fund)
Jerolene Elementary (via Abbott Fund, Walters-Dimmick Petroleum)

The Food Bank of SCM also partners with 2 different after-school feeding sites in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, serving an average of 50 kids each week during the school year.

WHY AFTER SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMS?

The Food Bank of South Central Michigan was part of a national hunger study, Hunger in America, 2005. This study showed us that almost half (39%) of the individuals served by the Food Bank's network are children. In direct response to this finding, the Food Bank continues its after-school feeding programs for children. Many studies, like those from Tufts University, have shown the link between proper nutrition and the ability to learn and socialize. The Kids' After-School Pack program directly addresses these outcomes. Additionally, Kids' After-School Packs promote self-sufficiency as they nurture the entire family structure.

"Undernutrition harms children silently. Even before it is severe and its results are readily detectable, inadequate food intake limits the ability of children to learn about the world around them. When children are chronically undernourished their bodies conserve the limited food energy available. Energy is first reserved for maintenance of critical organ function, second for growth, and last for social activity and cognitive development. As a result, undernourished children decrease their activity levels and become more apathetic. This, in turn, affects their social interactions, inquisitiveness, and overall cognitive functioning...

This evidence suggests that undernutrition costs far more than the diminished well-being of youngsters during childhood. By robbing children of their natural human potential, undernutrition results in lost knowledge, brain power, and productivity for the nation. The longer and more severe the malnutrition, the greater the likely loss and the greater the cost to our country."

- Excerpted from Statement on the Link between
Nutrition & Cognitive Development in Children, 1998,
Tufts University School of Nutrition Science & Policy.

WHO ARE THE AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM PARTNERS?

The Food Bank partners with a variety of organizations, including: Michigan Education Association, Battle Creek Public Schools, Minority Program Services, Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes, Eastside Neighborhood Association (Kalamazoo), Lakeview Public Schools, Lakeview/Urbandale Kiwanis Club, City of Albion Parks & Recreation Dept., First Congregational Church (B.C.), St. Philip Catholic (B.C.), First United Methodist (B.C.), and St. Thomas Episcopal (B.C.), Generous Hands, Inc, Immanuel Lutheran (Jackson), Richland United Methodist and Gull Lake Rotary Club.

WHO ARE THE CURRENT AFTER-SCHOOL PACK FUNDERS?

Support has come from a variety of sources, including:Walters-Dimmick Petroleum Inc., Kalamazoo Loaves & Fishes, Lakeview/Urbandale Kiwanis Club, 1st United Methodist (Battle Creek), Sunrise Rotary Club, Downtown Battle Creek Rotary Club, St. Philip Catholic (Battle Creek), St. Thomas Episcopal (Battle Creek), First Congregational (Battle Creek), Post Foods, Union City Community Cares, Gull Lake Rotary Club, and Gull Lake Area Schools.

QUICK FACTS REGARDING KIDS LIVING IN POVERTY & HUNGER

Children who grow up in families below 185% of the federal poverty level and who live in hungry and/or food insecure homes suffer from two to four times as many health problems as their counterparts who do not experience hunger.

Malnutrition-related ailments afflicting these children included unwanted weight loss, fatigue,
headaches, irritability, inability to concentrate, and frequent colds.
Children between the ages of 5 and 7, living in food insecure households have nearly 3-4
times the odds of stunted growth.

Poor children also face the following odds:

two times more likely to have repeated a grade by grade 12
one-third less likely to attend college and only half as likely to earn a bachelor's degree
almost two-and-three-quarter times more likely to have stunted growth
three to four times more likely to have iron deficiency
over one-and-a-half times more likely to contract pneumonia during childhood.
source: Recipes for Success, America's Second Harvest, May, 2001

CONTACT US! For more information on kids after-school feeding programs. Please contact us at 269-964-3663.