Weekly, school selected students receive a backpack filled with enough food for the weekend. The backpacks include two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners, and two snacks. Volunteers pack the backpacks and the partner schools distribute the backpacks to the students.  Each backpack costs approximately $8 per week or $320 per school year.

In our community, Blacksburg, Virginia, 20.7% of the students at the 9 public schools we serve qualify for the free and reduced school breakfast and lunch program.   While it is difficult to ascertain the exact need, in 2009, an informal survey of local elementary school principals suggested that potentially 250 students in Blacksburg would benefit from Micah’s Backpack.

In addition to food, Micah’s Backpack has always included an educational component in the form of a variety of nutrition newsletters.  While Micah’s Backpack cannot solve all the problems these children face, the program’s work addresses a specific need: alleviating weekend hunger.

For the school year 2010-2011 volunteers donated 1,600 hours to Micah’s Backpack. In turn, Micah’s Backpack served 147 children and delivered 5,023 backpacks that contained 30,138 meals.  Because Blacksburg’s weekend hunger needs have not decreased, Micah’s Backpack has elected to grow to 175 backpacks delivered per week for school year 2011-2012.  Volunteers from across civic, academic, and religious groups throughout Blacksburg gather on Thursday evenings to pack the bags and deliver them Friday mornings.  For information on ways to help hungry children in our community though Micah’s Backpack please contact Jennie Hodge at jennie@micahsbackpack.org or Pastor John Wertz at pastorjohn@stmlc.us.

Can you help?
For every $8 donated a child will have six nutritious meals for the weekend and for every $320 donated a child will be fed on the weekend for the entire school year.  All money donated to Micah’s Backpack goes exclusively toward the purchase of food.  Please visit our websitewww.micahsbackpack.org to make on online donation or send a check to Micah’s Backpack c/o St Michael 2308 Merrimac Rd Blacksburg VA 24060

If you or a group you belong to has an interest in volunteering or doing a food drive for Micah’s Backpack please email Jennie at jennie@micahsbackpack.org

From the ELCA Voices for Change

Nutrition Issues and Childhood Obesity

Advocacy Ministries of the ELCA

August 26, 2011

Submitted by Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy is working with the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth on an initiative to impact the issue of childhood obesity in Virginia. The Center is raising awareness and educating families in the New River Valley about childhood obesity by organizing the faith community, local childcare providers and community leaders.

A Blacksburg art supply store displays paper dolls created by local children during the Week of the Young Child. The weeklong initiative helped raise awareness about children’s health. Photo courtesy of Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

The campaign kicked off in February with an event headlining a professor of pediatrics from Virginia Tech.  Then, in April the campaign partnered in hosting the Week of the Young Child. The Center initiated a paper doll project, which was used in part to educate parents about the “5210 A Day” model, which advocates for five servings of fruits and vegetables, two hours of screen time or less, one hour of activity and zero sugary drinks a day.

Additionally, the campaign is working closely with Micah’s Backpack, a ministry led by St. Michael’s Lutheran Church of Blacksburg. The program provides healthy meals and snacks on weekends and during summer vacation for children who qualify for free and reduced lunches.

As the campaign begins its second year, the Center is also continuing its efforts to improve state policies that directly impact children who are at the highest risk for obesity. In the coming General Assembly, we will continue to advocate for an increase in the physical activity requirement for Virginia’s school children and support legislation requiring nutritional content to be available for foods sold to students as part of their breakfast or lunch programs.