On Friday afternoons, volunteers assisting the Flint Street Fellowship deliver 65 bags of food to Eureka Springs schools for students whose families worry about having enough food for the weekend. The number of recipients might vacillate during a school year, but the total has more than doubled since the “backpack program” began in 2013.
“When a kiddo is hungry, they can’t learn,” Patty Brill, counselor for the elementary and middle schools, said. She produced samples of what students get on Fridays: bags with approximately $5 worth of food each – peanut butter, string cheese, tuna, soup, fresh fruit, oatmeal and other easy-to-prepare foods.
Pat Kasner, Flint Street director, said the program began in 2013 with 30 students getting a bag of food for the weekend. Flint Street supports the program through donations, fundraisers and grants. Hart’s, for example, sells fresh fruit for the program at cost. “I’m really amazed at how generous people in the area are,” Kasner said. She commented that even though the number of students getting a bag has increased, she is “grateful the need is not more than it is.”
Kasner said every Friday morning members of the Holiday Island and Eureka Springs Rotaries pick up some items from Hart’s and then, at the Flint Street site, prepare bags and deliver them to the elementary school. Brill said members of the elementary student council deliver the appropriate number of bags to different classrooms. She mentioned sometimes parents pick up the bags for their students.
To be part of the program, a parent just demonstrates a need to either the teacher or Brill, and Brill determines who is eligible. She said, however, it’s the teachers who know when a student is a candidate, and will make referrals to her. The number fluctuates during the year because paychecks fluctuate for some parents. Sometimes a student needs a bag for only a couple of weekends. At one point last year, Flint Street was bringing over 75 bags to the schools.
“There’s always a student in need,” Brill said, adding that Flint Street always comes through if the list grows.
Jessica Quintana runs the computer lab for the elementary school. She commented single mothers have told her they don’t know how they would feed their kids without the program. One father described it as, “Paying it forward. This is how communities and schools should be.” And for teachers, Quintana said there is the reassurance the community is coming together to watch out for students.
Brill said an important element of the backpack program during the school year is stability. Students learn the bags are going to be there and they can count on it. She said it’s unfortunate the schools cannot continue the program during the summer.
Superintendent Bryan Pruitt called it an excellent program and a community service that benefits families, and he’s glad the district can participate. He also mentioned there is a free and reduced lunch program which requires the parents to submit a more formal application, but is another way schools can help out parents and students.
Complete information about applying for free or reduced lunches is on the schools website or a parent can ask Rachal Hyatt, counselor and homeless liaison, or Sydney Sutterfield, child nutrition director.
According to district records, 58 percent of elementary students qualify for free or reduced lunches, 55 percent in middle schools and 43 percent in high school.
Brill said people can donate to her Counselor’s Fund, and she will purchase particular items of need, such as toiletries or other personal items.