Snack Pack Service Project

 My calling at church right now is Relief Society Activities Coordinator. Unlike many other wards, this one does not have a committee. It is just me, the second counselor in the Relief Society, who supervises activities, and a food coordinator. Together with these two outstanding women, we organized a service project just one month after each us were new in our respective callings. My previous ward had done this service for our public school district, so in the interest of time and resources, we did the same thing in my new ward. 

We asked the ladies at church to volunteer (using SignUp Genius) to supply the non-perishable foods needed to make 100 "snack packs" for the kids in our county. Snack packs are bags filled with foods that could constitute meals for kids between lunch on Friday and breakfast on Monday. These snack packs are offered to kids who qualify for free and reduced lunch and who have no guarantee of meals at home on the weekend. The snack packs are certainly not gourmet. They have to be non-perishable and simple, so that kids can prepare and eat them even if they are home alone, as many are. Our goal of 100 was a lofty one, but the sisters at church really pulled through. We had extras in some categories and so we made the goal and then donated the rest to the school district anyway. Thank you ladies!!

What a beautiful sight!

The other service we provided was help the Youth Conference planner make up bouquets for the dance competition later this summer. We also enjoyed a chicken tortilla soup dinner and desserts together. Delish! With both activities and lovingly prepared foods, I think it was a great success! 

The following day, I received this email update and almost cried thinking of those students we are trying to help. I am going to look into it more and learn what else can be done to help them this summer.

"Hi gals,
[We] dropped off our snack packs at the District Office this morning. They were shocked and grateful about the number of items we collected. [Fiona], the homeless liaison, said that the packs would be very helpful this summer to 55 particular students. 55 students in the district are homeless and these will help feed them over the summer. A few students in this group of 55 homeless students have been accepted to colleges on scholarships where the colleges will provide their meals but through the summer they don't have much access to food.
The pile of packs was stacked on [Fiona]'s desk and different district employees were excitedly taking pictures. They asked for our contact information to followup with a thank you note."

What ideas do you have to help these students who go hungry over the weekend or summer?