Texas County Students Could Benefit From Food 4 Kids
March 11, 2010
TEXAS COUNTRY, OKLA – One in five children in Oklahoma is at risk of going to bed hungry every night. Thanks to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s Food 4 Kids program, many chronically hungry children in Texas County could receive the nourishment they need every weekend during the school year. Without the Food 4 Kids program, many of these children have very little or nothing to eat between school lunch on Friday and school breakfast on Monday morning.
Food 4 Kids provides chronically hungry elementary school children with a backpack filled with nutritious, kid-friendly food every weekend and holiday throughout the academic year. The food is shelf-stable and can be prepared without adult supervision. If there is a younger sibling at home who is not yet in school, the child is given two sacks of food in their backpack.
“I have a little boy in my room that told me sometimes he eats dinner and sometimes he doesn't,” said one Food 4 Kids school coordinator. “It depends on whether Mom gets paid or not. This is really unthinkable for me, but it is reality for so many of our children.”
There are approximately 85 chronically hungry children in Guymon that could greatly benefit from the Food 4 Kids program. The Regional Food Bank estimates there are at least 120 more students in Texas County that can benefit from this program.
“I encourage Texas County residents to donate to Food 4 Kids,” said Rodney Bivens, executive director of the Regional Food Bank. “The continued support of the community helps keep the program solidly in place and ensures chronically hungry children receive the food they need. A $200 donation supplies one child with a backpack full of food every weekend for an entire school year.”
A recent survey of Food 4 Kids school coordinators, teachers and administrators has shown that students’ school performance, attendance and self-esteem have all improved as a result of participating in the program.
To make a donation to the Food 4 Kids program in Texas County, please contact Lisa Perry at lperry@regionalfoodbank.org or call 405.604.7107. All donations made to Food 4 Kids-Texas County will be used to provide food to children in Texas County.
To learn more about the Regional Food Bank and its Food 4 Kids program, call 405.972.1111 or visit our website at www.regionalfoodbank.org.
