Blessings in a Backpack Receives Ronald McDonald Grant

Dec. 3, 2010 - PRLog -- Blessings in a Backpack is excited to announce they have been awarded a $10,000 grant from Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southwest Florida. The funds will be used as matching funds for donor support in the “One Child, One House” program.

Thousands of children in Lee County are going hungry and their futures are suffering as a result. Without proper nutrition over the weekend, students have difficulty paying attention, learning and attending school. Blessings in a Backpack is working to help decrease this number by providing food to children on Federal Free or Reduced Lunch programs over the weekend. The success of the program is proven by higher attendance, increased health and accelerated reading skills and positive behavior.

One Child One House is calling neighbors to band together and support the cause, one family at a time. It’s as easy as gathering the provided supplies from Blessings in a Backpack and talking to your neighbors. Participants get stickers denoting they are sponsoring a child, neighbor letters, donation cards & envelopes and more. If each house in every neighborhood sponsors one child in need, we could eliminate child hunger in this community.

“We are thankful to have been given this opportunity to support our One Child, One House program,” commented Scott Fischer, Chair of Blessings in a Backpack Lee County. “This grant directly decreases the number of hungry children in Lee County, positively impacting their future.”

Blessings in a Backpack is a program designed to feed elementary school children who qualify for the federal free and reduced meal program and may not have any or enough food on the weekends. Eighty dollars feeds a child for an entire school year. All donations go directly to the local effort, currently at Tice Elementary and Edgewood Academy Elementary. For more information please visit http://www.blessingsinleeco.org.