Fighting food insecurity in Duval’s youth
Today, members of Nemours Children’s Health made strides to make sure that 1,000 students in Duval would not go hungry this weekend.
The mission was to help feed kids who depend on their school for food during the week.
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Monday morning Nemours Childrens Health and Blessings in a Backpack, a campaign making sure local students have enough food to eat, made 1,000 meal packages.
It’s for students at Andrew Robinson and Annie R. Morgan Elementary who might not be getting enough food and nourishment themselves. The packages are designed for them eat over the weekends when they cannot eat school-prepared meals.
Susan Evans with Blessings in a Backpack used to work at a food bank and Paris Owens with Nemours Children’s Health grew up poor. they’ve seen and felt the effects of malnutrition as a result of food insecurity.
“People may think the consequences of missing meals is just a growling stomach but there’s long term affects like diabetes,” Owens said.
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“We have a registered dietician that puts together rotating menus and it’s delicious,” Evans said.
Blessings in a backpack has also created love notes that anyone can fill out. Simply grab one of the cute cards, then turn it over and write a note to a child. That note will be packaged into a backpack. That way when a child is eating, they can also read about how much someone else loves them.
In an effort to help distribute the 1,000 meals, UPS is lending a helping hand. Today’s event is also a big part of National Volunteer week and of Nemours Cares week. It’s where volunteers like Jon Olive pay it forward twice a week or once every other week.
“You never want to worry about a kid not being able to eat over the weekend when he can’t go to school so I think it’s important to give back,” Olive said.
Today marks the 5th year that Nemours Children’s Health and Blessings in a Backpack are partnering together trying to end hunger within our youth. They say anyone can apply for these free meals but today, they are specifically for students on Duval’s free lunch program.
If you would like to help, put an end to food insecurity in Duval, you can contact the following or visit the following website link.
Susan Evans, Managing Director of First Coast Blessing in a Backpack, susane@blessingsinabackpack.org
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