Backpack Buddies

Backpack Buddies is a local mission of St. Paul United Methodist Church. We provide backpacks full of food for hungry children in the Ocean Springs School District and in Gautier schools. We pack foods for breakfast lunch and dinner meals as well as snacks to sustain a child for the weekend.

 

Our goal is to fill the gap from Friday to Monday for school-aged children who receive free breakfast and lunch at school, but are not getting adequate nutrition on the weekends. We feed the siblings of the identified child as well. We work closely with school counselors who identify the children and coordinate their enrollment in the program.

 

To protect the privacy of the individual families, we do not know the names of participants in our program, only the number we serve. We are currently feeding 80 children.

 

How did we get started?

 

In July, 2005, a group of St. Paul members started the prep work to identify children within the community who were going hungry. We had learned of a similar program in a neighboring community and so we suspected our numbers would be rather small (around 10 to 20 children).

 

Then, on Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina came ashore and displaced thousands of families along the Mississippi Gulf Coast including Ocean Springs. St. Paul, like most churches along the coast, became a distribution site for food, clothing and other donations from across the country.

 

When the children of Ocean Springs returned to school in October of 2005, it became apparent that the need in our community had changed. We identified more than 50 children in need for our assistance. As the school year progressed teachers and counselors began to identify more and we served as as 100 children during the first school year following Katrina.

 

Who are we serving?

 

Backpack Buddies currently provides backpacks to 80 children at Magnolia Park, Pecan Park, Oak Park and Taconi Elementary Schools in Ocean Springs. We are also feeding eight children in Gautier schools. Our hope is to expand our program through other churches to reach children in other school districts in our area.

 

How can you help?

 

St. Paul members volunteer every Thursday during the school year to pack and deliver backpacks to the schools. St. Paul volunteers shop for food and maintain the food pantry for Backpack Buddies. One hundred percent of all donations are spent on food and backpacks, as there are no administrative expenses. Your gifts of time, prayer, and money are all greatly appreciated.

 

Backpack Buddies

St. Paul UMC

P.O. Box 909

Ocean Springs, MS 39566-0909

Phone 228-875-5278

 

If you would like to donate, please make checks payable to:

St. Paul UMC, memo - Backpack Buddies