Contributed photo/Nate BodenstabHOULTON — The Houlton Rotary Club learned in detail about the Backpack For Kids program from Moose Karnes at their luncheon meeting on Jan. 25. Karnes is a member of Houlton Rotary Club and he practices service above self in his efforts along with other folks in the Houlton area to help feed some of the 21 million children in America who arrive at school hungry. Many of these children can expect to have their daily meals only at school.
The concern that developed into this program of Backpack for Kids was how to feed the children over the weekends when they were not at school. For 15 years now, this program has been sending backpacks home on the weekends filled with food for those children who qualify for the program. The process of being selected starts with the school nurse who identifies children in need. Forms are sent home to the parents or guardians which must be returned with information listing any food allergies.
In the Houlton area, the Houlton Methodist church has been involved since 2010 and has raised $70,000 in donations of which Rotary has donated $17,000 in the past five years.
Local businesses such as County Yankee support the effort with food donations. A family who now lives in Arizona, originally from Houlton, sends $165 monthly to help support the cause. When this program began in Maine it cost around $12 per backpack and now this cost has risen to between $18-$20 per bag. The state needs $7 million to feed this cause, where the average cost of a meal per child is $2.95
Karnes explained the weekly operation of Backpack for Kids. Volunteers meet on Wednesday each week to gather the food items to fill the backpacks. On Fridays, bags donated by LLBean and other companies are placed on buses where the bus driver oversees the distribution to the children in need. The child must return the pack on Monday to stay in the program.
Karnes estimates that 25-28 bags are given out weekly. The schools involved are the Mill Pond School in Hodgdon, the Houlton Aroostook County Action Program Center on North Street, Southside School in Houlton and a few sixth-graders at Houlton Middle School which is now at the high school. Karnes hopes to bring the Houlton Elementary School into the program.
If anyone wants to learn more about this effort the website www.feedingamerica.org has lots of information.
