January 26 - Feeding the future of America

Hunger Doesn't Take the Weekends Off.



Blessings In a Backpack is a “neighbor-helping-neighbor” program that is designed to help meet the nutritional needs of children and families.  62% of children in America are on free or reduced meals at their schools. Blessings in a Backpack is designed to feed these kids on the weekends by sending them home on Fridays with backpacks filled with staples that require little to no preparation. $80 feeds one child for a school year.



Blessings in a Backpack is a results-oriented program. This unique program is designed to feed elementary school children whose families qualify for the federal free and reduced meal program, and may not have any or enough food on the weekends. Better test scores, improved reading skills, positive behavior, improved health and increased attendance have all been attributed to the success of this program.



$80 feeds a child in the program for an entire school year. Following a donation, a school is chosen and a local grocer partners with the program to provide food for meals in the backpacks. Every Friday, students receive their backpacks with staples that require little to no preparation. They return with their backpacks on Monday ready to learn.


The backpacks include ready-to-eat food items such as fruit roll ups, juice boxes, instant noodles, peanut butter, mac & cheese, cereal, pop tarts, etc. Blessings in a Backpack does its best to make sure the food is kid-friendly, meaning it’s lightweight, healthy, non-perishable and easy-to-prepare.  Students who participate in the Blessings in a Backpack program show marked improvement in school attendance, test scores, behavior, and health. Food is an essential building block, and in this case truly is a blessing, especially to a hungry child!



Blessings in a Backpack started with just one school in 2005 and now serves almost 27,000 students in 157 schools, spread throughout 27 U.S. states and two countries - Canada and Columbia.   Click here to find a Blessings in a Backpack program in your area. The program is a hybrid of private sector funding and public partnership carried out in public schools. We are feeding the future of America, one school at a time.
 

Become a weekday or weekend warrior in the battle against hunger.



Get Involved:

Donate to Blessings in a Backpack.

Adopt a school.  Adopting a school close to your community is fairly simple. The most important requirement is that you are a parent, teacher, administrator or community member that recognizes how important it is that all of our neighbors’ children have the same opportunities for daily nutrition, which positively impacts educational success!

Volunteer opportunities with Blessings in a Backpack.

Other ways to get involved.

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Source: http://blessingsinabackpack.org/

July 29 (Day 151) Skip 1

When Shelene Bryan realized that skipping one small luxury every month could save a child’s life, she gave her own life an overhaul....

Shelene Bryan was a successful talent agent turned Hollywood executive but she freely admits, "My lens back then was severely limited." Like many good Americans, she and her husband, Brice, signed up to support two children in Africa for $50 a month. As far as Shelene Bryan knew, they were supporting child # GBB 8348 and child # GBA 8453.

But curiosity got the better of her. Shelene had this burning need to find out if GBB 8348 and GBA 8453 really existed, and if their money was really getting to these two children. So Shelene hopped on a plane and flew to Uganda - unannounced. She found her way to a village named Gaba, near Lake Victoria, and said, "Hi, I'm from America and I'm looking for these two children." She showed the local lady the pictures and the numbers. As the woman stared at the pictures, Shelene started to wonder what on earth she was doing in the middle of Africa alone. But then the gracious woman said, "Sure. Follow me."

Two miles deeper into the jungle, Shelene Bryan arrived at the door of a tiny hut no bigger than the size of her walk-in closet at home. When Shelene pulled back the tattered bed sheet covering the door, a child darted at her with her arms wide open, saying "mzungu" (white person in the local dialect). She knew exactly who Shelene was. Shelene didn't recognize Omega at first because she had grown since her photo was taken. She said simply, 'I'm Shelene' and Omega replied, 'I know'. She hugged her in amazement, realizing this little girl was real and her $25 a month was keeping this beautiful little girl fed, clothed and in school. Shelene Bryan went on to tell Omega that she would get her anything she wanted, and Omega replied with a huge smile, "a bed!"

The next day Shelene took Omega into the city, where she had never been before, and with just $20 bought her a bed, a sheet, a mosquito net, a blanket and new shoes. She says she felt like Oprah. That's the power of American currency in poverty-stricken third world countries.

Shelene Bryan also found child # GBA 8453, Alonis, a beautiful young boy alive and well, and very aware of who she was and the difference her $25 a month was making. "It was like finding my own son", she says.

Shelene Bryan's life was forever changed that day. She describes her transformation like this: "I was reduced to my knees, taken out of my comfort zone - and brought face to face with compassion. I made a promise to Omega and Alonis that I would never forget them or their friends. I would go back to my home in America and advocate for these children."

So Shelene Bryan gave up her Hollywood career and started Skip1.org. The concept is simple. Skip just one manicure, car wash, latte, movie, pack of gum, etc. Something small that you don't really need or wouldn't really miss. Then donate the money. Shelene believes Skip1 is not about one person making a big donation. It's about lots of people making small ones, something they can easily skip, and help change the world instead.

Since 2003, Shelene Bryan has traveled back to Uganda three times. Omega and Alonis' village now has a thriving farm, a health center and a number of bicycles used for transportation in and out of the remote area. Next on the list is a clean-water drinking well, which Shelene hopes to have completed by Summer 2011.

Today Skip1 supports children in need in Peru, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. And that's only the beginning. Shelene Bryan plans for Skip1 to support efforts for food, water and sustainability to children in need throughout the world. She says there are no borders when it comes to loving a child, and there is no work more important, or gratifying, than caring for them.

Skipping it is easy. The truth is, we'll be ok if we skip one or two or 500 things this year. We have so much! Just think about how much money we spend on THINGS. On stuff we'll never use, or use once and give away, or never use again. This isn't an attempt to make you feel guilty, it's to get you to think about one or two things in your life that you could skip, give instead to Skip1.org and help someone in need. You'll never miss it. But a child could live because of it. Just skip it and help provide food & water to children in need.



Here's just a few things that you can skip:

• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
• Dessert
• Snack
• Car wash
• Bottled water
• Pack of gum
• A magazine
• A new shirt
• Pair of shoes
• Golf game
• Massage
• Video game
• A movie
• A latte
• A donut
• Haircut
• Manicure
• Pedicure
• Birthday party

Why Do We Skip?
We skip because we can.
We skip because 1/6th of the Earth's population is undernourished - more than ever before!
We skip because 25,000 people die every day from hunger and related causes.
We skip because every 6 seconds a child dies of hunger and related causes.
We skip something because the world needs our help.


Skip1.org taps into the world's wealth to bring food and water to children and families in need around the world. Public donations go to the acquisition and distribution of food and water projects worldwide.


Donate to Skip1.org. Skip something. Feed a child.





Source: Skip1.org

March 22 (Day 22) I Love Me a Good Bake Sale!!

Hunger is a Reality for Children in America

THIS YEAR, NEARLY 1 IN 4 CHILDREN IN AMERICA STRUGGLE WITH HUNGER.

THAT'S ALMONST 17 MILLION KIDS.

Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale is a national campaign that mobilizes volunteers to host bake sales in their communities in an effort to help end childhood hunger in America.  Nearly 17 million children struggle with hunger. That’s almost one in four. But there is hope, it starts with a bake sale. Join us today! Your efforts will help to surround kids with the nutritious food they need where they live, learn and play. Once you register you will have access to lots of helpful materials that will help make your bake sale a success!

Great American Bake Sale National Challenge -  April 16th-18th
How many bake sales can our volunteers hold in one weekend? 300, 500 or maybe 1,000! Can we have a bake sale in every state? We’re answering these questions April 16th-18th with the first annual Great American Bake Sale National Challenge! Let’s come together this weekend in April and bake to end childhood hunger in America. Select a day, choose a location and be counted. If you can't participate this weekend, Bake sales can be held anytime that your schedule permits.

This is a fun, easy and very tasty way to help!!  Everyone loves a good bake sale!  Make sure you visit Bakesale 101 for resources to help you hold a successful bake sale. If you can't hold a bake sale, check out the site and see if there is a bake sale in your area that you can support.  I'm getting hungry already! 


Source:  Share Our Strength / Great American Bake Sale