Back Pack Ministry

Grace Chapel is gearing up for the first year of our School Backpack ministry, a program

organized by Second Harvest Food Bank of Western North Carolina to help feed hungry and

under-nourished elementary school children on the weekends. 

            The program is set up with a local school and a sponsoring group or agency. 

The program is available to schools with at least 50% of their students on free or reduced cost lunches. 

Grace Chapel will work in partnership with Dudley Shoals Elementary school in the

Granite Falls area for this ministry. 

Each Thursday evening during the school year, Grace Chapel will load backpacks

supplied by Second Harvest with an assortment of food items, also supplied by

Second Harvest.  Then, either Thursday evening or Friday morning, the loaded backpacks

will be taken to Dudley Shoals School.  The school staff will distribute the packs to free or

reduced-lunch students selected by the school.  The children will take the backpacks and

food home with them each Friday so they can have a supply of nutritious food for

the weekend.  The students will bring the backpacks back to the school Monday morning. 

Someone from Grace Chapel will pick up the backpacks from the school Monday or

Tuesday. The backpacks will be repacked with food on Thursday evening, and the

process is repeated each week during the school year. 

Second Harvest Food Bank collects food from a variety of sources across the country,

so they are able to provide food for the Backpack Program at the extremely low cost of

about $200 per student for the entire school year, an amazing bargain!  Second Harvest

requires a sponsoring agency to provide food for at least 50 students, requiring a commitment

of $10,000 for the school year, which is paid to Second Harvest in two equal payments,

one in September and the other in January.  Grace Chapel has pledged to provide food for

50 students this coming school year.

Many members at Grace Chapel have already made commitments to sponsor one or more

children for the 2009-2010 school year.  We invite others to join us in this terrific ministry.  In

addition to financial support, we will need volunteers each Thursday evening during the school

year to load the backpacks with food.  If you are interested in helping with this ministry, or would

like to find out more about it, contact the church at (828) 396-4252 or gracechapelumc@embarqmail.com,

or Rev. Nancy McDow, at (828) 612-4030 or nancymcdow@charter.net.

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