Blakesburg Elementary Power Snack Delivery
posted on Thursday, November 16, 2017
“Every Friday, Mrs. Glosser and her helper pack up all the bags and discreetly sit them in the lockers,” says Blakesburg Elementary School Dean of Students, Sheryl Friedman. “There are no names or anything on the bags. The kids just know they are in there. They take them home for the weekend and then bring them back on Monday.”
Students at Blakesburg are very much looked after when it comes to providing food for them on the weekends. The local food bank, “Loving Shepherds Food Bank” partners with the school to provide snacks to fill lunch boxes that are sent home with students on the weekends. This year, a very generous anonymous donor donated new lunch bags for the students. The new bags are larger than the previously donated ones and can hold more food.
“I think the most positive impact of sending these lunch boxes home with students is their happiness of knowing when they go home, there is something there to eat right away,” Friedman says. “They don’t have to ask for food when they know that it might be hard. Instead, they already have it in their possession.”
Last week, representatives from Iowa Select Farms and the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation met with Principal Friedman and Mrs. Glosser to deliver Power Snack™ Teachers Kits to the school. The Power Snack™ supports 60 students at Blakesburg Elementary – a contribution valued at $1,920. Students will receive $5 coupons for sliced or shaved ham and $3 coupons for a loaf of whole wheat bread. Students who receive weekly lunch boxes will now also have the added surprise of the Power Snack coupons.
“We are going into schools and finding out how teachers and staff are helping their students,” said Allyson Ladd of Iowa Select Farms. “Kids aren’t necessarily going home to the same house every night, and if they are, maybe there isn’t a parents to get them dinner or get them to the bus in the morning. These teachers, and our Power Snack™ Program, all have the same end goal: to make getting food easier for food insecure students.”
Mrs. Glosser’s lunch box program is simple: every Thursday or Friday she, along with her helper, use their best discretion to fill the lunch boxes for each student who has signed up for one. The local food bank provides the food and it is up to Mrs. Glosser to make sure each student receives food they can eat. Usual foods you can find in the lunch bags include cheese sticks, soups, beans, cereal, fruit drinks and more. Then, on Fridays, Mrs. Glosser’s helper will put the lunch boxes in student’s lockers. The students then take their lunch box home and bring it back on Monday to have it refilled for the following weekend. Some students get so excited they end up eating all their food at once.
“We had a little trouble last year with one of our students,” Mrs. Glosser chuckled. “His mom called me and said every time her son came home on Fridays, his lunch bag was empty. He was just eating everything on the bus ride home. It was funny.”
What is really great about the lunch bag program at Blakesburg is Mrs. Glosser’s student helper. Not only is he fine tuning his counting skills, he is also learning the importance of helping his peers.
“I got involved with the lunch bag program mostly because of our little helper,” Friedman says. “It’s great for him as far as numbers go. He is matching, sequencing and following directions. He takes good accountability when finding and putting the bags in students’ lockers. It’s been great. The program all around has been great.”
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