Boomerang Backpack Receives $5,000
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Riley Children’s Foundation, the fundraising organization supporting Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health, granted the $5,000 to Boomerang Backpacks.
The mission of Boomerang Backpacks is to nourish low-income elementary students on weekends by providing backpacks full of food, according to a press release from the foundation. It also is to inspire high school students to experience community service through project-based learning and gain an understanding of helping others in need.
“Riley Children’s Foundation really has been a great support to us,” said Tracey Akers, WCS head nurse and Boomerang Backpacks coordinator. “They gave us some money a few years ago to get it started. So for them to support us again is amazing that they’re willing to continue to support this program. They know it will really impact the children, which is very near and dear to their heart. So, we couldn’t do it without the support of somebody like Riley Children’s Foundation. We are just thrilled that they are so willing to support us.”
The cost for Boomerang Backpacks is $100 per student per year, she said.
“So (the $5,000 grant) should be impactful for at least 50 students, which is great because we’re adding Harrison and Jefferson this school year,” Akers continued. “So we’re adding four schools together, so we know we need more funds so we can keep adding more students. We’re hoping to get at least 300-350 students this year.”
Last year the program included Lincoln and Leesburg. After adding Harrison and Jefferson elementaries this year, Akers said she hopes they can include Claypool Elementary next year.
“They are Title I schools, so they have some of the highest free and reduced (lunch students) of the eight (elementary) schools,” she explained.
During the 2011-12 school year, as participants in Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy, Warsaw Community High School students Connor Singrey and Alek Jansen helped Akers get the program started.
In the first year, the Warsaw Boomerang Backpacks reached only Lincoln Elementary students, but has continued to grow.
After Jansen and Singrey graduated from WCHS, other high school students stepped up to help keep the program going.
State Rep. Rebecca Kubacki serves on the Riley Children’s Foundation Board of Governors and is on the grant committee. She presented the grant to the program Tuesday afternoon.
“These kids are wonderful for taking on this project to begin with. They’re thinking of somebody other than themselves,” Kubacki said. “So many times young kids are being labeled as self-centered and this is proof that’s not true.”
When she read the grant application, Kubacki said she was very proud of the kids.
“This is in my backyard. I’m so proud of them for what they’re doing. I’m glad we were able to give them some money and help them out,” Kubacki stated.
Additional benefits of Boomerang Backpacks include improving attendance at school on Fridays when the students receive their backpacks, and improving student achievements on Mondays since the students are able to eat over the weekend, according to the press release.
Riley Children’s Foundation worked with the Warsaw Riley Regional Leadership Committee chaired by Dr. Dane Miller regarding nominations and to select the grant recipient.
Kubacki said, “I don’t know that people realize what Riley does for the state. Anybody that has a sick child can go to Riley, whether they have money or not isn’t even an issue. They’re there to take care of every single child. And I think people think, ‘I can’t afford that hospital, I couldn’t afford to take my child there.’ Any child that comes through that door is going to be taken care of. It doesn’t matter what the financial circumstances are.”
Riley Board of Governors, she said, looks at the budget and sees what needs to be raised to make sure all those kids are taken care of.
“We have another component, which is the grant committee, which I’m on, and we help kids throughout the entire state with projects just like this, kids that are handicapped, you name it. We target someone and we say, ‘OK, we’re going to raise funds to help them,” she said.
Riley Children’s Foundation supports Riley Hospital for Children, Camp Riley and the James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home. As Indiana’s only nationally ranked and comprehensive children’s hospital, Riley Hospital has provided “compassionate care, support and comfort to children and their families since 1924,” the release states.
Each year, children from all 92 Indiana counties turn to Riley Hospital and its regional clinics more than 230,000 times as well as an additional 100,000 times in clinics and hospitals staffed by Riley physicians throughout the state. Nearly 5,000 of those patient visits involve families from Kosciusko and surrounding counties.
“Riley Hospital is the jewel (of Indiana). A lot of people think about the Indianapolis 500 as being what Indiana is known for. But Riley Hospital is world-renown. It’s the gem of Indiana that people don’t always see,” Kubacki stated.
For more information, visit the Riley website at www.RileyKids.org[[In-content Ad]]
Riley Children’s Foundation, the fundraising organization supporting Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health, granted the $5,000 to Boomerang Backpacks.
The mission of Boomerang Backpacks is to nourish low-income elementary students on weekends by providing backpacks full of food, according to a press release from the foundation. It also is to inspire high school students to experience community service through project-based learning and gain an understanding of helping others in need.
“Riley Children’s Foundation really has been a great support to us,” said Tracey Akers, WCS head nurse and Boomerang Backpacks coordinator. “They gave us some money a few years ago to get it started. So for them to support us again is amazing that they’re willing to continue to support this program. They know it will really impact the children, which is very near and dear to their heart. So, we couldn’t do it without the support of somebody like Riley Children’s Foundation. We are just thrilled that they are so willing to support us.”
The cost for Boomerang Backpacks is $100 per student per year, she said.
“So (the $5,000 grant) should be impactful for at least 50 students, which is great because we’re adding Harrison and Jefferson this school year,” Akers continued. “So we’re adding four schools together, so we know we need more funds so we can keep adding more students. We’re hoping to get at least 300-350 students this year.”
Last year the program included Lincoln and Leesburg. After adding Harrison and Jefferson elementaries this year, Akers said she hopes they can include Claypool Elementary next year.
“They are Title I schools, so they have some of the highest free and reduced (lunch students) of the eight (elementary) schools,” she explained.
During the 2011-12 school year, as participants in Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy, Warsaw Community High School students Connor Singrey and Alek Jansen helped Akers get the program started.
In the first year, the Warsaw Boomerang Backpacks reached only Lincoln Elementary students, but has continued to grow.
After Jansen and Singrey graduated from WCHS, other high school students stepped up to help keep the program going.
State Rep. Rebecca Kubacki serves on the Riley Children’s Foundation Board of Governors and is on the grant committee. She presented the grant to the program Tuesday afternoon.
“These kids are wonderful for taking on this project to begin with. They’re thinking of somebody other than themselves,” Kubacki said. “So many times young kids are being labeled as self-centered and this is proof that’s not true.”
When she read the grant application, Kubacki said she was very proud of the kids.
“This is in my backyard. I’m so proud of them for what they’re doing. I’m glad we were able to give them some money and help them out,” Kubacki stated.
Additional benefits of Boomerang Backpacks include improving attendance at school on Fridays when the students receive their backpacks, and improving student achievements on Mondays since the students are able to eat over the weekend, according to the press release.
Riley Children’s Foundation worked with the Warsaw Riley Regional Leadership Committee chaired by Dr. Dane Miller regarding nominations and to select the grant recipient.
Kubacki said, “I don’t know that people realize what Riley does for the state. Anybody that has a sick child can go to Riley, whether they have money or not isn’t even an issue. They’re there to take care of every single child. And I think people think, ‘I can’t afford that hospital, I couldn’t afford to take my child there.’ Any child that comes through that door is going to be taken care of. It doesn’t matter what the financial circumstances are.”
Riley Board of Governors, she said, looks at the budget and sees what needs to be raised to make sure all those kids are taken care of.
“We have another component, which is the grant committee, which I’m on, and we help kids throughout the entire state with projects just like this, kids that are handicapped, you name it. We target someone and we say, ‘OK, we’re going to raise funds to help them,” she said.
Riley Children’s Foundation supports Riley Hospital for Children, Camp Riley and the James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home. As Indiana’s only nationally ranked and comprehensive children’s hospital, Riley Hospital has provided “compassionate care, support and comfort to children and their families since 1924,” the release states.
Each year, children from all 92 Indiana counties turn to Riley Hospital and its regional clinics more than 230,000 times as well as an additional 100,000 times in clinics and hospitals staffed by Riley physicians throughout the state. Nearly 5,000 of those patient visits involve families from Kosciusko and surrounding counties.
“Riley Hospital is the jewel (of Indiana). A lot of people think about the Indianapolis 500 as being what Indiana is known for. But Riley Hospital is world-renown. It’s the gem of Indiana that people don’t always see,” Kubacki stated.
For more information, visit the Riley website at www.RileyKids.org[[In-content Ad]]
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