Blessings in a Backpack fill empty tummies

PRINCETON — Kelly Knowles knew some of her daughter’s basketball teammates came from less fortunate families, but it broke her heart to learn that the girls often went hungry on weekends and snow days.

The stunning realization took place a few years ago, when Knowles’ daughter was in sixth grade and played on a youth league.

“We hadn’t had school that particular day, but I was the assistant coach of my daughter’s team at the time and decided to have practice anyway,” Knowles told Princeton Rotarians. “So, I called some of the team parents and said, ‘Hey. I’m coming over to pick up the kids and take them out to play.’ I filled my car with about six girls, and we went on to practice.”

After the workout, Knowles offered to treat the girls by driving through at a local restaurant and grabbing each teammate an ice cream cone.

She was surprised when one of the younger players asked, “Would it be OK if I got something to eat instead? I haven’t been able to eat today.”

After gently questioning the girls in her car, Knowles learned that, aside from her own daughter, only one other girl she’d picked up had eaten that day. Her order soon changed. She allowed the girls to choose anything they wanted from the menu and drove them home heavy hearted and hoping to make some changes in the community.

•••

Wendy Aiello knows how Knowles felt.

Her daughter is involved in cheerleading, where Aiello encountered one particular little boy who clearly reveled in the experience of taking cheerleading and gymnastics classes.

“He had the most fantastic personality. He was energetic; he was always the first one to be out on the floor. He was just wonderful,” Aiello said.

Then, one day, the little boy was at practice, but he wasn’t quite himself. Concerned, Aiello mentioned the difference to an adult friend at the practice; the friend filled in the blanks.

“She said, ‘Well he hadn’t eaten today. The person who usually picked him up for practice usually took him to get him something to eat before practice, but he rode with someone else today,’” Aiello said. “Here’s this kid with this dynamic personality, who frequently didn’t eat from the end of school on Friday and wouldn’t eat again until Monday.”

Like Knowles, Aiello said she knew she had to do something to improve the situation for Mercer County children.

“I feel like God put me on a path to be involved with Blessings in a Backpack,” Aiello said.

•••

One day during a typical conversation between two best friends, Knowles and Aiello shared the bleak realities some of their children’s classmates and friends face on a daily basis and their common desire to help.

Then, they both referred to Blessings in a Backpack, a non-profit organization that both had recently learned about separately.

Blessings in a Backpack provides elementary school-aged children who qualify for the federal Free and Reduced Price Meal Program with a backpack full of food to take home for 38 weekends during the school year.

For $80 per child, per school year, Blessings in a Backpack can provide easy-to-prepare, ready-to-eat foods, like granola bars, mac and cheese and oatmeal. Each backpack is estimated to cost $2.10 and provide enough food to ward off hunger over the weekend.

Currently, Blessings in a Backpack feeds almost 63,000 children in 437 schools over 42 states in the U.S. and three countries — Canada, Columbia and Haiti. Its structure is a hybrid of private-sector funding and public partnership carried out in public schools.

It operates under the theme of “Feeding the Future of America.”

•••

While Knowles and Aiello are thrilled to provide nutrition for children in need, they also know that they are feeding more than the kids’ appetites.

Knowles said that studies have shown that improving children’s nutrition also improves behavior, attendance and even test scores.

“It’s a simple act, and it really provides dividends for all of us,” she said.

The two friends determined to make a difference recently adopted Ceres School Community as their school, and they plan to send the first batch of local backpacks full of blessings home next week.

“Hunger exists here in Mercer County. It’s in Tazewell County. It’s everywhere,” Knowles said.

Aiello said the pair started with a goal of providing backpacks for 50 children at the small school.

“We’ve raised enough money to feed 85 kids,” Aiello said.

The women and their team of volunteers have committed to serve Ceres for the next three years, as the local Blessings in a Backpack crew. They invite interested parents and community members to get involved by either joining their cause and assisting to package and/or deliver backpacks or to consider starting a Blessings in a Backpack organization at another Mercer County School.

Other than a few organizational skills and a strong desire to help children, Aiello said starting a Blessings in a Backpack team doesn’t require any special talent.

“We’re just regular people who cared enough to make a difference,” she said.

For more information on Blessings in a Backpack, visit www.blessingsinabackpack.org or contact Aiello at w.aiello@yahoo.com or Knowles at kellymccandlish@gmail.com.

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.

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