Qwest grant gives boost to food program for needy students in D-11

Each Friday, about 350 youngsters in the Pikes Peak region take home special and rather heavy backpacks.

It’s not extra homework.

The backpacks are filled with food to help them and their families get through the weekend.

Care & Share’s food BackPack Program got a boost this week with a $10,000 grant from the Qwest Foundation that will benefit students at three Colorado Springs School District 11 schools.

The money will allow the program to continue at North Middle School and to expand to Lincoln and Monroe elementary schools, said Cyndi Zeman, who runs children’s programs for Care & Share, the southern Colorado food bank.

The BackPack Program was launched by Feeding America, a national hunger-relief charity, as a pilot in 1995 and became a national program in 2006. Last year, more than 190,000 children were served in the program, according to the agency’s Web site.

In southern Colorado, the program is run by Care & Share, starting in Pueblo and El Paso counties and recently expanding to Teller County, Zeman said. Alamosa County is the next target, she said.

The backpacks are delivered to schools or other community agencies that serve children, such as the YMCA, she said. Participants include schools in Harrison School District 2, Ellicott School District 22, Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8 and Cripple Creek School District RE-1. Grants for the school programs are administered through the Colorado Department of Education.

The standard packs contain dry milk, two breakfast items, canned fruit and vegetables and five entrée-type items such as soup or stew. When possible, Care & Share includes healthy snacks for the kids.

The program started with child-only packs that included single-serving food for the recipient and some of those still go out, she said. But most clients in the region get family packs.

In D-11, about 25 students at North get the backpacks, and the additional money will pay for 38 packs for the two elementary schools, said Mary Ley, D-11 special projects director.

“We have about 780 students who are eligible, so we’re not even penetrating the need,” she said. “But this is a beautiful program. Any time we can feed a kid it’s a great day.”

The recipients generally are identified by school counselors or community liaisons, who get permission from the parents to send the food home, Zeman said.

“The need is increasing and this is a way where it’s easy to distribute the food in school because the kids are there,” said Zeman, who added that her goal is to “keep the program standing and decrease the waiting list.”

There are 15 schools or agencies on the waiting list in El Paso County.

 “It gives the children a way to help,” Zeman said. “Sometimes the kids are more honest about the needs than the parents.”

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