Boomerang Backpacks Coming To Tippy ValleyAKRON - For some children in low-income families, the only meals they get are those they have at school.
On weekends, they may be malnourished or not get to eat at all.
With the help of community donations, five Kosciusko Leadership Academy members are working on bringing the Boomerang Backpacks program to Tippecanoe Valley Schools to help with the nutritional needs for students over the weekends. The KLA members include Rob Patrick, Jennifer Gaff, Becca Snider, Tippecanoe Valley High School Principal Kirk Doehrmann and Tippecanoe Valley Superintendent Brett Boggs.Doehrmann started the ball rolling last year with a presentation of Boomerang Backpacks to the Tippecanoe Valley School Board. In an interview Wednesday, Doehrmann said Valley's program is being modeled after the East Noble program. A former teacher of Doehrmann's started it there.
Tippecanoe Valley provides free and reduced lunch students two meals a day. Doehrmann said for a lot of kids, that's the only meals they get. But Valley wants to make sure kids don't go to bed hungry.
"We want to try and help out with whatever we can with that," Doehrmann said.
Free and reduced lunch rates continue to rise at all schools in the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. According to information provided, the rate is 58 percent at Akron and Mentone elementaries; 46 percent at the middle school; and 40 percent at the high school.
Making it part of their KLA project, Doehrmann said they've asked for donations and are writing grants.
To begin Boomerang Backpacks this year, Valley is starting with kindergarten and first-grade students. Letters have been sent out to parents to see who is interested. So far, Doehrmann said, they've received a good response from the elementary schools.
Food Finders out of Lafayette will provide the meals. Food Finders helps 28 schools in the state with similar programs, Doehrmann said. When Food Finders delivers the food, TVHS students will help with the program, including everything from doing inventory to delivering the backpacks to students on Fridays.
Children who receive the backpacks will receive them on Fridays and then return the backpacks on Mondays. Inside the backpacks will be items like peanut butter, cereal, oatmeal and other items like macaroni and cheese. It will change week to week.
Boggs said Food Finders offers three different packages, priced at $3, $4 or $5 each. Valley has chosen to do the $5 packages because they are starting with the youngest of students who may have older siblings to share the food with on weekends. The program pays for the meals, and there is no cost to the participating students or their families.
Doehrmann said they are getting feedback on the program now.
"I would love to start as soon as possible," Doehrmann said.
Boggs said if anyone wants to donate, they can make checks out to the Northern Indiana Community Foundation, P.O. Box 807, Rochester, IN 46975. In the memo line, they should put "Tippecanoe Valley Boomerang Backpacks". It is a donor-advised fund, said Brian Johnson, director of development for the Fulton County Community Foundation.
By going through the foundation, Boggs said people will feel it's a more credible program. The foundation will take care of the issuance of checks and other paperwork. Down the road, Boggs said, the program could end up being significant, easily serving 400 to 500 students.
Though the program will serve only kindergarten and first-grade students at this time, Doehrmann said he'd love to see it expand to fifth grade. It just depends on the fundraising. Each meal is $5. If there are 500 kids served, that could be a cost of $2,500 per week for the program.
According to feedback Valley received from other districts with the Boomerang Backpacks program, kids receiving the backpacks get quite excited about it. It has shown to have an impact on attendance rate and the amount of time children are in the nurse's office.
Since high school students will be helping with the program, Boggs said that could have a positive impact on them, too. The high school students will be asked to step up to leadership roles. At Valley, Boggs said, they feel it is important to teach students to serve others.
"Most programs I've read about don't operate from huge grants," said Boggs. Instead, the program relies on donations from people and local organizations.
The program received several donations recently to get it going. The Amanda Drudge Fund gave $500; Palestine Bible Church offered $250; Lake City Bank provided $500; K21 Health Foundation provided $1,000 in honor of Rosy Jansma, a board of directors member; and Fulton County United Way gave $288. An anonymous donor also contributed another $1,000.
For more information about Boomerang Backpacks, contact Doehrmann at Tippecanoe Valley High School at 574-353-7031; or Boggs at the TVSC administration office at 574-353-7741.
