For the 14th year, Graham-Kapowsin Community Council is doing something big about hunger.
The group’s latest Feed the Children fund-raiser is scheduled for March 4 at Graham Elementary School, located at 10026 204th St. E. All proceeds will support a food backpack program that supplies nutritious food for underprivileged children to take home on weekends.
Donations and sponsors for the fund-raiser are gratefully accepted, said Carol Wright, chief executive officer of the community council.
Wright noted the backpack program began as a way “to feed homeless children in this part of south Pierce County. We would take three or four backpacks out to each of the schools in the Bethel School District. But then the need became so great that now we take Power Packs, as we can no longer afford 200 backpacks each week.”
The Power Packs have nutritious food items that children can prepare themselves, even in homeless situations that have families “scrambling to survive each day,” Wright said. “Fortunately, we have a very generous community and food is coming in, but not all that food fits with the Power Packs.”
Wright, who welcomes calls at 253-279-3071 from anyone who wants to get involved with the project, said the contents of each Power Pack cost about $8. The items include instant oatmeal, Chef Boyardee pop-top cans, macaroni and cheese or similar pasta meals, fruit cups, granola bars, beverages such as water, PowerAde and juice boxes, and snacks of all kinds (pudding cups, Oreo packets, fruit snacks, etc.).
A full year of meeting the need costs about $83,000 a year.
“This is an ongoing process and takes the extended efforts of a lot of people and agencies,” Wright said. “Generous donations will certainly make a difference in these children's lives.”
The community council, a non-profit organization, has provided enrichment programs for children and families in the Bethel district since 2003. More information is available at g-kcc.org.
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