A Danville woman who developed a ‘backpack program’ to feed hungry kids was honored last night as the Danville AMBUCS First Citizen of 2019. Rose Gates was working as a parish nurse at Trinity Lutheran Church in 2010 when she saw the need to feed children. The Feed the Children Backpack Program now serves nearly 500 children at 10 local schools.
Gates reacted to the size of the crowd at last night’s awards banquet….
Gates remembers when the program started….
Teachers, social workers and food service workers identify those children at risk. Each Friday volunteers assemble the backpacks and deliver them to the 10 schools so children will have healthy food over the weekend.
