Local Grant Gives Long Beach Elementary the Chance to Feed Hundreds of Students

Submitted by Oswego School District:

Thanks to a $20,000 grant from Sam’s Club and some left over money from a fundraiser, Long Beach Elementary School now has about $38,000 to feed about 50 students over the weekends this year, and for years to come as part of the Blessings in a Backpack program.

The school has about 47 percent of its students on free and reduced lunch and breakfast. About 50 of those students opted to participate in the program.

Long Beach Principal Phil Murray said the program has helped his students enormously.

“I think it is tremendous,” he said. “If kids are hungry, learning is the last thing on their mind. This also says that we do not just care about our students from 8:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. We care about our students over the weekends, too.”

Home room teachers for the students who participate in the program pack their backpack with additional food provided by Aramark over the weekend.

Blessings in a Backpack is a national program designed to help feed students on the free and reduced lunch program over the weekend.