Feeding a need: Raven Packs provides food for hundreds of Ravenna kids on weekends, breaks

As it approaches its fifth anniversary next month, the volunteers of Raven Packs have seen that the help they give to Ravenna school students with food insecurity is needed more than ever.

"Our numbers have increased since the pandemic," Raven Packs Vice President Rebecca Schneider said.

Raven Packs is one of several programs in Greater Akron that help make sure kids don't go hungry over weekends or extended school breaks.

In Summit County, the Akron, Barberton, Copley-Fairlawn, Coventry, Cuyahoga Falls, Green, Nordonia Hills, Norton, Stow-Munroe Falls, Woodridge school districts have similar food programs, according to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank’s Feeding Kids Initiative, which includes backpack programs, after-school snack programs and school-based food pantries.

The food bank estimates that in its eight-county service region of Summit, Portage, Stark, Medina, Wayne, Carroll, Holmes and Tuscarawas, 1 in 6 children may experience food insecurity.

During the school year, volunteers with Raven Packs gather at Portage Community Chapel, 6490 state Route 14 in Ravenna, to fill hundreds of packs containing food for students in need to take home on weekends and breaks during the school year.

Volunteer transportation teams take the packs to schools for distribution.

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Raven Packs currently has 480 students signed up, much higher than what it started with during the 2018-19 school year.

"Our initial group of students was 255 at our original packings, and we've kind of gradually grown since then to where we are now," Raven Packs Treasurer Laura Wunderle said.

Wunderle said some of this could be due to a rising need, especially since the pandemic. And more help may be needed after a pandemic-related funding increase to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) ended in March.

"We're anticipating that we may see that. We haven't seen it happen directly, yet," she said.

But some of the rise in students receiving help could be because the nonprofit Raven Packs has just become better known over time.

"Our staff in the district, they do the primary identification of students based on their knowledge of the need and families," Wunderle said. "But we have had families reach out to us directly."

Food program started with recognizing a need

Wunderle said the idea to form an organization in June 2018 began when school staff came forward with concerns about students telling them they weren't eating well at home during weekends and breaks.

"One of our elementary guidance counselors and an intervention specialist recognized this need in the elementary schools and wanted to do something about it," she said.

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In some cases, said Wunderle, students would tell staff providing them with extra academic help that they hadn't eaten much at home. Some kids would even say they preferred being in school because the district provides free breakfasts and lunches on school days.

"The goal is for the community to see this need, which is apparent, and then to meet it," said Wunderle. "We like the idea of being hands-on here in our home community and serving the kids who are here."

Making food accessible

Most of the students getting packs are in prekindergarten through fifth grade, but all special education students in the district's Education Alternative program, which is all grades, can get them if needed.

In some cases, Raven Packs knows the family income of students in the program, but the primary criteria for deciding if students need help is whether they come to school hungry, for whatever reason.

"We work really closely with our counselors in the district and intervention specialists who tend to see more of those students," said Wunderle.

Some families, for example, may be facing some sudden situation that is causing financial difficulties.

"So we use the term food insecure a lot, just because there are a lot of reasons that you could be food insecure," said Wunderle.

Items included in the packs tend to be simple and easy to fix, such as soup, cereal, oatmeal and snacks. A bag for a two-day weekend typically contains about 15 items, while longer breaks would have more, Wunderle said.

"We really try to focus on items that are accessible and usable to children so that if they have adults in their life who aren't providing for them, well, they have the opportunity to still access that food with or without adult support," said Wunderle.

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Raven Packs also started providing snacks for classrooms several years ago after organizers learned teachers were paying for snacks out of their own pockets for some students.

Volunteer packing sessions — which typically draw around 20 to 35 volunteers — usually take place every two weeks, on Thursday mornings. The last one for this school year is May 18 at 9 a.m.

Generally, Raven Packs does not do any packing during the summer, though there were a couple of summers when federal grants allowed for it or pandemic money was available through the free breakfast and lunch program for a summer distribution.

To volunteer, contact Raven Packs online at www.ravenpacks.com or through its Facebook page, which includes signup links for packing events. Raven Packs can also be contacted by email at k5ravenpacks@gmail.com.

Support comes from various source

Schneider said some of the food is purchased from the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.

"We also get it from community partners and local businesses," she said. "We have a lot of community partners. We have churches that help collect certain food items."

Raven Packs also raises money through various means. There will be a big fundraising event at West Main St. Winery, Brewery & Cider House, 234 W. Main St. in Ravenna, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. May 17.

Schneider said Raven Packs has also held other fundraisers, sold T-shirts, mainly to volunteers, and is considering bringing back a pancake breakfast.

People can also donate money to Raven Packs. Mail checks to Raven Packs, P.O. Box 728 , Ravenna, OH 44266. Donations can also be made through Facebook and Venmo.

Creating benches from recycled plastic

An offshoot project for Raven Packs is recycling soft plastic, whether plastic that food comes wrapped in or that students bring to school from home.

Schneider said the plastic can be converted into benches to be distributed around the district. The first bench is at the Chestnut Hills Park playground.

She said it takes time to collect the 500 pounds of plastic needed for each bench, so the goal is to create one every six months. After the school year's final packing event is over, there should be at least close to the required amount.

"Once we get all of that plastic from there, we should be well on our way to our second bench," she said.

Wunderle and Schneider said their involvement with Raven Packs has been rewarding. Schneider said the camaraderie and relationships by themselves have been worthwhile.

"There's a lot of amazing volunteers, and I love to do this because I have reconnected with old neighbors from the neighborhood I grew up in, teachers that I had in middle school and high school," she said. "So it's a lot of fun to see all these people, plus I've also made new friendships and new connections. So really a lot of fun."

Akron Beacon Journal staff writer Emily Mills contributed to this report. Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: How Raven Packs volunteers help address food insecurity in Ohio