Some 200 volunteers of all ages converged Saturday at the River Bend Foodbank to ensure children in the Quad-Cities don't go hungry on weekends.
River Bend's backpack program was established several years ago to help feed children on weekends during the school year.
Volunteers Matthew Luckey and Kyle Lange, both students at Western Illinois University, stayed busy assembling cardboard boxes to hold the food items. They agreed it was a worthwhile way to spend a Saturday, and noted it was the first time they had volunteered at River Bend.
"Our goal is to grow this, and all of our programs, until we feed every hungry person in the Quad-City region," Mike Miller said. Miller, executive director of the food bank, said 2,700 children in several dozen schools take home food every week. The supply helps to feed them over the weekends, when they have no access to free breakfast and lunch programs available in the schools.
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River Bend sets up two shifts on one Saturday morning each month, Miller said. The effort was created several months ago, after the decision was made to pack the food locally.
Previously, Miller said, River Bend purchased pre-packaged foods from a business in Nashville. Over time, it was felt there were not enough items for the cost, and that the food items were not necessarily kid-friendly.
One kit used to hold nine items, but the same money now provides for 14 items, which make up two breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners. The food is shelf-stable, nutritious and vitamin-fortified.
The volunteers prepare 10,000 bags of food. These are distributed to more than 50 participating schools, and are discreetly given to children on a Friday, or the day before a weekend or vacation break. Each bag contains items such as macaroni and cheese, ravioli and spaghetti.
First-time volunteers on Saturday included members of the soccer teams at St. Ambrose University, Davenport. Eilish Morrissey, from Pekin, Ill., Carissa Origer, Des Moines, and Sarah Hichwa, Iowa City, praised the backpack program as they filled plastic grocery sacks with food items.
Miller said the Saturday time slots are family-friendly, and family groups show up to help. There are also e-mail blasts to local colleges, and agencies and school districts supply volunteers.
Hunger is a terrible burden for children, Miller said. "Circumstances put these children into poverty. Our goal is to help the kids stabilize their lives and to break that cycle of poverty."
