We Have “Velcro” for Your School

I have an old straw hat that I wear when I mow the grass or work in the yard. Its wide brim is kind of bent up and not at all symmetrical. Inside the band is some elastic material that stretches as I put it on and it says “one size fits all”. I’ve had some odd looks from drivers as they go by, but maybe the hat had nothing to do with it. I’ve noticed I get those looks sometimes even if I am not wearing a hat, but that’s another story. I’m pretty sure that no artist of country music or farmer for that matter would be caught dead wearing a hat like this. I can’t say it feels that good when I wear it, but it keeps the sun out of my eyes and off my neck, so I wear it.

I recently bought a new baseball hat with an adjustable Velcro strip so it can be adjusted and it feels just right when I wear it. I think the person who invented Velcro is a genius. That little piece of material provides the end user with the ability to have a “custom” feel to their item of clothing and it is designed to keep the adjustment in place or let the owner adjust it as they see a need to change it.

I have had the pleasure over the last several months to meet face to face with many of principals and school superintendents in several of the counties we serve. We are discussing how we can partner them and other stakeholders in their neighborhood to engage parents of their students to come to school and participate in a meeting or activity with a food distribution component. This approach has been implemented in several schools and more are planned to begin in July, August and September.

One of the aspects about this program is the flexibility of it and the opportunity to “customize” it for each school depending on several factors.

It can be organized as often or as minimally as it needs to be to meet the school’s needs and those of the other stakeholders around the table. If area churches and/or businesses are partnering to provide funding and volunteers the frequency can be adjusted so it’s a great fit for everyone.

The principals are enthusiastic because they see the opportunity to connect with parents in a meaningful way with positive engagement to build relationships that will benefit all parties. When the school pantry food distributions occur, the parents can access a significant amount of food that will meet their needs for at least a week or more. This is a critical point because getting the right amount of food and the right kind of food to a family will have a significant impact in relieving the pressure many of them face if they had to rely on food pantries to make ends meet that week.

A visit to the average food pantry does not provide enough food to meet the family needs.

Many are faced with in inconvenience of traveling to other pantries open different days and times to try and cover the gap their resources can’t provide. Church food pantries resources are limited and have not been able to meet the need. There may be some who could still be very effective in outreach by moving from their current model to partnering with the neighborhood school along with other supporters to function with less burden and more impact for a family.
The average food insecure family of 4 has a gap of 28 pounds of food per week to meet their basic needs. Having access through your child’s school pantry to have a positive experience with their teacher and staff and walk out with having a critical basic need met is proving to be an emotional and impactful experience for many. Our post-distribution surveys are showing strong positive changes for the families and students.

Parental engagement in a child’s education can be a lifetime game-changer for a student pathway to self-sufficiency as an adult.

Food distribution can be a win-win-win for all parties to come together. We are continuing to seek out partnership opportunities with more schools and neighborhood stakeholders to begin this “custom fit” program with so many positives outcomes. Your school and the children who attend can benefit from this, so let’s get together and all do what each of us can.

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