Memorial Baptist Church in New Haven is starting a backpack program that they are calling Buddy Bags. These bags provide a weekend’s worth of food supply for children in low income families.
Each bag consists of nutritious foods: two breakfasts, two lunches, two snacks, one vegetable, and two fruits. Mark West, youth/associate Pastor at Memorial Baptist Church, stated, “The idea came up in February of this year. Our group is always looking for ways to help other people.”
The group learned that one way they could help was to assist hungry children. In fact, research in the article “11 Facts About World Hunger In The US,” shows that 1 out of 7 of the people enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also referred to as SNAP, are children.
Because of this growing problem of childhood hunger, the buddy bags are being created to help families that struggle to get food over the weekends. Pastor Mark West stated, “We would like to keep this going into next year! At the moment, we are doing a 5-week trial to see how it works out.”
Every Wednesday, the church’s youth groups go to Memorial Baptist Church to help pack each brown bag. The church currently has 47 bags. The bags consist of cereal fun packs, fruit cups, veggie cups, to-go peanut butter, and oatmeal. Memorial Baptist is using an effective way to pack food into the bags. The bags are set out on to the tables and are labeled with the number one or number two. The bags are then opened, and the people that go to the Wednesday youth group sessions help place food into the bags.
Pastor West explained how the bags are then distributed “We deliver the bags to Kasi Meyer at the elementary, and the teachers come during the day to get the bags for their class. The teachers then place the bags in the students’ backpacks while they are not in the room so that no one knows they are getting the buddy bags.”
The church encourages members of the community to become involved by donating food for the Buddy Bag Program. The program could use the following items:
Tuna Salad Kits
Chicken Salad Kits
Cereal Fun packs
Mac N Cheese Bowls
Chef Boyardee (microwavable)
When the community donates items like these or funds to buy these items, the church will have enough to pack each bag. “The church would greatly encourage anyone that would like to be involved come out to Memorial Baptist on Wednesdays.” Mark West voiced
“When it comes to making a difference, little things can help,” Mark West stated. By helping the Memorial Baptist Church with the buddy bags program, you to can make a difference in a child’s life.
-Zoie Mathis
The group learned that one way they could help was to assist hungry children. In fact, research in the article “11 Facts About World Hunger In The US,” shows that 1 out of 7 of the people enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also referred to as SNAP, are children.
Because of this growing problem of childhood hunger, the buddy bags are being created to help families that struggle to get food over the weekends. Pastor Mark West stated, “We would like to keep this going into next year! At the moment, we are doing a 5-week trial to see how it works out.”
Every Wednesday, the church’s youth groups go to Memorial Baptist Church to help pack each brown bag. The church currently has 47 bags. The bags consist of cereal fun packs, fruit cups, veggie cups, to-go peanut butter, and oatmeal. Memorial Baptist is using an effective way to pack food into the bags. The bags are set out on to the tables and are labeled with the number one or number two. The bags are then opened, and the people that go to the Wednesday youth group sessions help place food into the bags.
Pastor West explained how the bags are then distributed “We deliver the bags to Kasi Meyer at the elementary, and the teachers come during the day to get the bags for their class. The teachers then place the bags in the students’ backpacks while they are not in the room so that no one knows they are getting the buddy bags.”
The church encourages members of the community to become involved by donating food for the Buddy Bag Program. The program could use the following items:
Tuna Salad Kits
Chicken Salad Kits
Cereal Fun packs
Mac N Cheese Bowls
Chef Boyardee (microwavable)
When the community donates items like these or funds to buy these items, the church will have enough to pack each bag. “The church would greatly encourage anyone that would like to be involved come out to Memorial Baptist on Wednesdays.” Mark West voiced
“When it comes to making a difference, little things can help,” Mark West stated. By helping the Memorial Baptist Church with the buddy bags program, you to can make a difference in a child’s life.
-Zoie Mathis
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