Boomerang Backpacks to Accept Donations at Basketball Game
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
On the weekends when they’re not in school, some children have little or nothing to eat.
That’s where the Boomerang Backpacks program comes into play. And during basketball games over the next few months, the community will have a chance to donate to the program.
“We are hoping we can feed hungry children over the weekend,” said Tracey Akers, Warsaw Community Schools nurse and Boomerang Backpacks coordinator.
The three school corporations in Kosciusko County – Wawasee, Warsaw and Tippecanoe Valley – all have the program.
Currently, the Warsaw program only reaches impoverished children at Leesburg and Lincoln elementary schools and some at the Gateway Education Center. It provides weekend snacks for about 150 kids a week.
Akers said Wawasee’s program reaches about 300 students a week at all of its three elementaries. Tippecanoe Valley has the program at both of its elementaries, she said.
“As a school nurse, I saw kids coming in and they were obviously not eating,” Akers said. “I heard about the program and being a successful and good program, I wanted to start it here.”
Last year, as participants in Kosciusko Youth Leadership Academy, Warsaw Community High School students Connor Singrey and Alek Jansen helped Akers got the program started.
“We didn’t know we’d be doing it. We were part of KLA. We happened to talk to Mrs. Akers and we chose to be a part of it,” Singrey said.
In the first year, the Warsaw Boomerang Backpacks reached only Lincoln Elementary students.
“We both went to Lincoln and we thought it would be good to give back to our school which did so much for us,” Singrey said.
As Jansen and Singrey are seniors, juniors Blair Findlay and Will Petro have jumped on board to help with it this year and next.
“Some high school kids from Mr. Bailey’s and Mrs. Stewart’s classes help wash the backpacks and pack them,” Akers said. Both PTOs at Lincoln and Leesburg and the Leesburg United Methodist Church help transport and deliver the backpacks. The church also gave a donation of food, she said.
Having basic nutritional needs met allows students to concentrate on learning instead of being hungry, Akers said. Part of the reason for doing the program, too, she said, is so families know the school corporation cares about them.
“We want to get the word out to get more support and help reach other schools,” Akers said.
The three school corporations have agreed to do collections for Boomerang Backpacks at upcoming basketball games.
Warsaw will have its collection at the Dec. 7 boys basketball game against Rochester. Akers said besides a collection, they hope to have prizes to give away. If it works out, they will have a follow-up collection at a girls basketball game in January.
Wawasee will host a collection when it plays Warsaw Dec. 14, while Valley will hold one when it plays Wawasee Feb. 22. Further information about the events will be published in the Times-Union.
Akers said it takes about $3 a week per student, or about $100 per student for the school year. Currently, to help feed students at just the two Warsaw schools, it takes $15,000 a year.
Jansen said a backpack may include an entree, a juice box, mixed fruit, perhaps a pudding cup, three breakfast items, wheat crisps and sunflower seeds.
“We try and vary the menu each week,” Akers said. The snacks are non-perishable and easy for the children to open. “We make them as nutritional as possible.”
The Warsaw program, Akers said, has received “generous” gifts from the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, Riley Children’s Grants, Maple Leaf Farm, Dr. Dane & Mary Louise Miller Foundation, The Pfleiderer Trust, Kosciusko Community Hospital, The Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club, Tri Kappa and other local donations.
To make a donation, call Connie Geer at Wawasee High School at 574-457-3147; Kirk Doehrmann at Tippecanoe Valley High School at 574-353-7031; or Akers at Edgewood Middle School at 574-371-5096.
