Getting Food To Kids who Need it Most

When students leave school and head for home over the weekend, not all of them will return with a full stomach.

That's where people like Deby Sorensen come in. She saves the day. And the stomach.

Three years ago Sorensen could not believe that one out of every four children in Clarke County goes to bed hungry every night. She decided she needed to do something  about it.

“It just didn't make any sense to me,” Sorensen said. “I understand there are starving people all over the world, but if there are starving children here, in my home city, then it's my job to take care of that.”

Through a program called Food2Kids, Sorensen picks up sacks of food and delivers them to schools where some of the area's neediest children attend. She is one of dozens of volunteers who help children in Clarke and surrounding counties through a partnership with the Junior League of Athens and the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia.

Sorensen delivers the child-friendly sacks of food to three different Clarke County schools, and school staff place the bags discretely in each participating child's backpack. The sacks which may contain canned ravioli, fruit cups, peanut butter and bread.

Each sack contains enough food for six meals. The meals are simple so that a child can easily prepare them and eat on their own.

Poor children especially need to eat regular meals not only because their bodies are still growing and developing, but because they should be able to concentrate on school work – without worrying where their next meal is coming from, Sorensen said.

When children eat, they're more likely to be alert and awake in school, which  transfers into improved performance and hopefully a better future all-around, she said.

“If we can get food over the week, then they can have a better chance of learning, can do better in school so that they're more likely to get a better job so that they can break the cycle of poverty,” Sorensen said.

Still, there are many children who could qualify for the program who aren't being served, said Scott Emard, a school counselor at Judia Jackson Harris Elementary.

“The only flaw in the program is we need more, there's just not enough,” Emard said. “We get 17 bags. We could use 200. The ( Food Bank of Northeast Georgia) is doing everything they can financially. What I would like to see is some additional community support, some donors stepping up,” Emard said.

Food2Kids also only lasts as long as children are enrolled in school, so when students leave school for the summer in a few weeks, the program will end for some of them.

Last year, Sorensen started a non-profit, POUR, Inc., and raised $5,000, which she used to partner with local agencies to help set up mobile food pantries at local schools to help continue serving Food2Kids families during spring and summer break.

This year though, the non-profit hasn't raised nearly as much, she said.

“This year to-date we have had zero private donations, so we're hurting a little bit,” Sorensen said. “We can only do as much as we can afford, and when we don't have money we really can't do all that.”

Even though there may be less funding available for POUR to arrange a mobile food pantry, the  Food Bank of Northeast Georgia will continue handing out monthly vouchers to the families of children in the Food2Kids program so that they may visit local pantries, according to Tonya Pass, a project coordinator for the Food2Kids program.

The  Foodbank of Northeast Georgia will also need to raise additional funds over the next year to serve more needy children and families, she said.

To raise money to support the  Food Bank of Northeast Georgia and its partnering agencies, like Food2Kids, the Junior League and a host of other groups have organized a WillRock4Food benefit concert. Held on May 7 at Terrapin Brewery, the event is selling tickets at $25 for those who are 21 and up, and $10 for those under 21. For tickets: Call 706-549-8688  or click here. 

Donations may also be sent to the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia Food2Kids program. For more information, contact the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia at: (706) 354-8191.