A Danville woman who has led an effort to feed hungry children on weekends in Danville is continuing her efforts this year, even while many students aren’t in the classroom.
Rose Gates says the Food for the Children backpack program has started up again for the school year, initially with 259 bags for students at Danville District 118 schools, and she says it will probably increase throughout the year as it normally does.
Having a majority of District 118 students learning online this year has made the delivery system a bit different. Gates says social workers at each school are still gathering a list of families as they normally would.
“They would talk to the parent to see which one was the closest to them, that they could pick up all of their lunches at one place,” she explained.
Gates says a large group of volunteers are still dedicating their time to help pack the food to give to kids in need. She says board members and volunteers will show up each Friday morning at Life Church in Danville to pack bags filled with food items.
“We’ve actually got four lines packing, but we set it up where everybody had to wear a mask and we used social spacing in packing–nobody bunched up together at those tables,” she said.
Each food bag is filled with nutritious items, including fruit, cereal and pasta. Gates says all of the food and monetary donations come from members of the community. The program is now in its 11th year providing meals to Danville students.
