Nearly 50 students from Pinewood Elementary School receive a variety of nutritious food items to help fill their tummies over the weekend. The school provides breakfast and lunch meals for the students while school is in session, but on the weekend and holidays the school social worker indicated some of the students have limited food for their home meals. The social worker has assisted in determining which students are most in need of this gift. Volunteers from Abiding Savior fill the bags every week and then another faithful volunteer takes the filled bags to Pinewood School. The social worker discreetly places the snack packs in the students’ back packs on Friday afternoons while students are in class.
Items placed in the snack pack includes items students can prepare for themselves like soup, pasta, fruit drinks, fruit sauce, crackers, pudding, snack bars, oatmeal, cereal, and a cookie or treat of some sort. The snack packs usually include at least 8 items and for special occasions or long weekends slightly more.
Abiding Savior Lutheran Church members have embraced this program by donating both food and money for the purchase of the groceries to fill the packs. There is a real need for this program and other churches in the area have started similar programs to help hungry students.