A group of concerned citizens, teachers and business leaders wanted to address the issue of food insecurity among the student population in Milam County, so they started a program three years ago called Pack Pals.
It’s a food collection and distribution service that dispenses packs of goodies to elementary-school-aged students to take home over the weekend.
“I first went to the RISD superintendent to talk about Pack Pals, because I knew our free and reduced lunch population of students is so high,” said Jocelyn Lewis.
In 2018, 73 percent of students attending Rockdale Elementary qualified for free or reduced breakfast and lunch and 67 percent qualified at the intermediate school, according to Public School Review profiles. It’s similar in Milano and Gause elementary schools at 67 percent and 59 percent respectively.
“I knew there was a need,” Lewis said. “We’ve heard teachers make comments about how hungry these kids are because they don’t have a lot of food.”
One of those educators was Milano Elementary kindergarten teacher Mindy Miller and Pack Pals volunteer
“Before starting this, I would see kids Monday morning who were tired and hungry. They couldn’t get breakfast,” Miller said. “Now, Mondays those kids are at school and ready to learn. They are excelling physically and emotionally knowing someone is there for them. These packs show them people may not know you but they care about you.”
“We have high poverty in Milano, Gause and Rockdale. These are all Title I schools,” Miller said. “We send a meal home with those kids on the weekend. They have parents who are working two and three jobs. Some parents are not home on the weekends or away at work.”
Miller, who has taught in Milano for seven years, has seen the program grow from serving 150 in the area the first year of the program to 250 the second.
Today, Pack Pals serves just over 320 students, she said.
Affected by multiple, overlapping issues like affordable housing, social isolation, health problems, medical costs and low wages and many families do not have what they need to meet basic needs and these challenges increase a family’s risk of food insecurity, according to health experts.
The non-profit gets help from Food Pantry donations, some church groups and the United Way. However, they always need more help.
According to Lewis, it costs between $600-$800 a week to buy food for each weekend pack. This includes two entrees, two breakfast meals and two snacks.
“We would like to be able to give four of each,” she said.
A donkey basketball fund-raiser held at RHS in February earned $1,200 for the organization, which is enough to feed the children of the area for one week.
Pack Pals accepts monetary and supply donations. Those who would like to donate monetarily can go to Citizens National Bank and make a donation to Pack Pals. Donors of food items can give individually packaged non-perishable breakfasts, snacks or entrees to Rock-dale Signs and Photography during business hours. (See food list box on this page.)
Pack Pals is always looking for volunteers. They meet every other Wednesday at Crossroads Bible Church.
“We pack for two hours on Wednesdays, sometime for two or three weeks at a time,” Lewis said. “Crossroads Bible Church lets us house and store everything there. We deliver to the elementary and intermediate schools on Thursdays.”
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