‘Snack pack’ program helps hungry students
Stevens Forest Elementary School and Harper’s Choice Middle School.
The program is being coordinated through the Roving Radish meals program, which sells meal kits of locally sourced food throughout the county and at discounted prices to those in need. The backpacks in Weekend Warrior are free.
The goal is to supply food to students in the Howard County School System’s free weekday summer lunch program on weekends, said Deidre McCabe, director of strategic planning and communications for Howard County government.
Kittleman’s office and interim schools superintendent Michael Martirano col-attended the kickoff.
“When a child shows up in school and they do not have the nourishment and the food in their system to be able to concentrate, it truly does affect academic achievement,”
Martirano said. “So, as a county and as a school system we must do everything we can to bridge that gap.”
The Roving Radish held a soft opening of the program last week and brought 30 backpacks to each of the two locations; all of them were distributed.
Roving Radish market manager James Zoller said the organization would like to anticipate the approximate needs of students each week to bring enough packs of food. He said the program wants to partner with local farmers in the future to have the food donated; the food is now being purchased from farmers, wholesalers and grocers with funding from the Department of Community Resources and Services.
The schools serving as sites for the Weekend Warriors program also host the schoolsystem’ssummerfreelunchprogram, which runs every weekday through Aug. 4.
The Howard County Public Schools System also operates sites at Murray Hill Middle School and Thomas Viaduct Middle School for its summer lunch program.
Martirano said at the kickoff that he hopes to see the program expanded to more sites next summer.
Each backpack is meant to serve one child and includes food for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack, as well as cooking instructions. The food provided will change week to week, Zoller said.
Backpacks are available to any child under age 18, with no application or identification required to receive one, McCabe said. kmagill@baltsun.com
The program is being coordinated through the Roving Radish meals program, which sells meal kits of locally sourced food throughout the county and at discounted prices to those in need. The backpacks in Weekend Warrior are free.
The goal is to supply food to students in the Howard County School System’s free weekday summer lunch program on weekends, said Deidre McCabe, director of strategic planning and communications for Howard County government.
Kittleman’s office and interim schools superintendent Michael Martirano col-attended the kickoff.
“When a child shows up in school and they do not have the nourishment and the food in their system to be able to concentrate, it truly does affect academic achievement,”
Martirano said. “So, as a county and as a school system we must do everything we can to bridge that gap.”
The Roving Radish held a soft opening of the program last week and brought 30 backpacks to each of the two locations; all of them were distributed.
Roving Radish market manager James Zoller said the organization would like to anticipate the approximate needs of students each week to bring enough packs of food. He said the program wants to partner with local farmers in the future to have the food donated; the food is now being purchased from farmers, wholesalers and grocers with funding from the Department of Community Resources and Services.
The schools serving as sites for the Weekend Warriors program also host the schoolsystem’ssummerfreelunchprogram, which runs every weekday through Aug. 4.
The Howard County Public Schools System also operates sites at Murray Hill Middle School and Thomas Viaduct Middle School for its summer lunch program.
Martirano said at the kickoff that he hopes to see the program expanded to more sites next summer.
Each backpack is meant to serve one child and includes food for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a snack, as well as cooking instructions. The food provided will change week to week, Zoller said.
Backpacks are available to any child under age 18, with no application or identification required to receive one, McCabe said. kmagill@baltsun.com
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