March 7, 2024
Backpack meals help struggling students, families survive
At North Georgetown Elementary School, at least 78 percent of the students – grades kindergarten through 5 – live in low-income households, reports School Counselor Janice Jester. In this Title 1 school, at the end the last school year, 110 students received backpacks – or weekend meal bags. Backpacks are stocked with kid-friendly, nutritious food…
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Backpack contents nourish students; kids love to get them
Jennifer Jacklin, a Family Student Interventionist at Wilmington Manor Elementary School, offers all kinds of support for families in need — every day. Her school serves about 300 students in grades kindergarten through 5, and about 25 percent of those children receive Backpack – or weekend meal bags – through our special Backpack Program. Our…
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March 5, 2024
Backpack meals help cash-strapped families deal with stress
It’s amazing how a little can of raviolis, a box of juice, and a few graham crackers can make a big difference in a child’s life. At Brader Elementary School in the Christina School District, Backpacks – or weekend meal bags – help students – and their families — get through the weekend. Backpacks are…
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February 28, 2024
Little Angels’ students, parents appreciate backpack meals
Little students at Rhonda’s Little Angels ECE Program in Seaford love getting their backpack – or weekend –meals each week, reports center director Rhondalin Cannon-Tingle. “My children and families enjoy the backpacks!” Our Backpack Program provides weekend meals to 8,377 students statewide each week. To help raise money for the program, we will be participating…
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November 20, 2023
Backpack meals fill a need for youngest neighbors
Pre-schools prepare very young students for life, with opportunities to play and learn, to socialize, to listen to stories, to make music, to follow directions, to make friends . . . the list goes on. The Head Start Center on White Oak Road in Dover offers pre-school education to 78 children ages 3-5 in an…
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October 27, 2023
At Seaford Head Start, each child receives Backpack meals
Located on the east side of Bridgeville Highway, Seaford Head Start serves 50 children ages 3-5 in an educational, classroom-based setting. Like most pre-schools and childcare facilities, there’s an opportunity for outdoor play in the playground adjacent to the center. Because this program targets low-income or no-income families, every child enrolled goes home each week…
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October 17, 2023
Head Start Backpacks: ‘ . . . children look forward to the bag”
At the Milford Head Start, 49 children are enrolled in the early childhood education program, and 34 of them receive weekend meal bags through a partnership with the Food Bank of Delaware’s Backpack Program. “Some parents decline. They say ‘Give it to another family who needs it,’ “says Maria, one of the center’s Family Advocates….
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January 25, 2023
Even at a ‘storybook school’ students face food insecurity
At North Georgetown Elementary School, the focus is on young learners . . . 765 students ranging in age from pre-kindergarten through 5th grade. Led by school principal Sarah Green, staff members commit to providing a supportive learning environment and recognize that hungry children can’t focus on learning. They also know that food-insecurity at home…
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December 2, 2022
Backpacks help kids: ‘Kids won’t learn when they’re starving.’
As a behavior interventionist, Alicia Sierra is well aware that hungry children struggle to learn, are unable to focus, and may act out in the classroom. Sierra coordinates the Food Bank of Delaware’s Backpack program at Clayton Elementary School. Right now, 13 of the school’s approximately 490 students receive a weekly Backpack filled with weekend…
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November 23, 2022
‘There’s no stigma here.’: Hungry kids appreciate Backpack meals
When heavy morning fog delays the start of school, for some kids it’s time for a little celebration. For others, though, it means a no-breakfast and an empty-belly kind of day. Crystal Thompkins, school counselor, at Towne Point Elementary School in Dover, knows what to expect when kids face a two-delay delay in their routine….
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