Serving the High Plains

Volunteers fill food sacks for kids

link QCS Photo: Steve Hansen

Ruth Ann Litchfield, Tucumcari’s mayor pro tem; city commissioner Amy Gutierrez and Jared Langenegger, coordinator of Blessings in a Backpack for Tucumcari, load sacks full of good food Wednesday that can help kids who may not otherwise have nutritious food on weekends.

QCS Staff

Community leaders joined volunteers of all ages, including high school and junior high students Wednesday evening to fill cloth bags with food for elementary school children for the Blessings in a Backpack program.

Jared Langenegger, who organized the volunteer effort said that Wednesday’s efforts filled 170 bags with nutritious foods that included instant oatmeal, soups, and some snack items. The bags were delivered to Tucumcari Elementary School, where they will be sent home with some children on Thursday to ensure there is adequate, nutritious food for the weekend.

The idea of Blessings in a Backpack, Langenegger said, is to fill the weekend gap that school nutrition programs leave for some children.

School breakfast and lunch programs ensure adequate nutrition during the school week, he said, but on weekends, many children may find there is a lack of proper nutrition at home.

A study by Feeding America, a national group whose mission is to work with food banks to help end hunger, showed 26 percent of children in Quay County live in “food insecure” households.

Quay County’s Blessings in Backpack program recently received $20,000 from the Walmart Foundation, which will be added to $6,000 collected from Quay County area businesses and individuals, Langenegger said.

 
 
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