SALYERSVILLE – The Kiwanis of Salyersville received a grant through the Kiwanis Children’s Fund, with the $1,000 awarded donated to the Magoffin County Cooperative Extension Service’s Backpack Program.
Tommi Lemaster with the local Kiwanis group told the Independent they usually donate to the program, but the grant made it possible for them to give back this year.
“It feels great that kids in our community will benefit from this grant,” Lemaster said. “Kiwanis is an international program, but to be able to give that back to the kids here in Magoffin, that just meant a lot to us.”
The Backpack Program, operated through the extension office, has been going on for nearly 20 years, serving local families from each Magoffin County school with backpacks full of food to get the children through the weekend.
Amanda Howard, with the Magoffin County Cooperative Extension Service, told the SI, “We work with the school resource centers, which provides names of the families and the number of kids, and we fill a backpack of food, with easy to fix meals and snacks for breakfast, lunch and dinner to feed the children through the weekend. We provide this for five families from each school every week through the school year and on an as-need basis during the summer.”
The program operates solely on donations from churches and other local organizations to provide these much-needed meals.
“I always try to put a variety in there, plus some treats if we can, but make it as nutritious as possible, with a fruit and a protein, peanut butter once a month, and extra snacks when available,” Howard said. “We try to make it all kid-friendly and easy to make, with on average three children served per bag.”
Howard said it’s a community collaboration, with the extension office and family resource centers working together to identify and plan for who needs the bags and consistent donations coming in from with three churches, Christian Appalachian Project, Kiwanis and Woodmen of the World.
This $1,000 will fund the program for nearly two months, Howard said.
“A couple of years ago, one of the family resource center directors told me they had a student come back after summer break and had lost a lot of weight,” Howard said. “Every week they have some kids waiting for their backpacks on Fridays, standing by their offices and checking in to make sure they get their food. This is an important program that serves Magoffin County students.”
With an average of three students served per bag and five bags per school, that means 75 Magoffin County students are provided much-needed food every weekend through the extension office’s Backpack Program.
To donate to the Backpack Program, you can mail to PO Box 349, Salyersville, KY 41465 or call their office at 606-349-1236 or 349-3216.
For more information about the Kiwanis of Salyersville, you can message them on Facebook, call Melanie Cain at the Magoffin County Public Library at 606-349-2411 or talk to any of their local members.
