Backpack Blessings from the Community
The Backpack Blessings program in the Richmond Community Schools is a school/church/community effort to help feed students in the district who are food insecure. This program began as a partnership between the Richmond Community Schools and the First United Methodist Church of Richmond. It has since grown to include many churches, local service groups, clubs, businesses and individuals who donate food, goods, services and/or money to help insure the success of the program.
Students and their families who qualify for the Backpack Blessings program are identified through the teachers and social workers in the schools. Every family in the program receives enough food for two dinners, two lunches, two breakfasts, and snacks. Six weeks of rotating menus are used to avoid giving families too much of the same foods, and the menus take into account appropriate nutrition.
The program is an agency of the Michigan Department of Education TEFAP and is a Gleaners partner. Both TEFAP and Gleaners are a source of perishable and non-perishable food. The program also regularly receives non-perishable food donations from various community, church, and school organizations.
Richmond High School donated a room that is used for storing food and packing meals. Each school also has a food donation box in the front office. Volunteers purchase and pack, then deliver groceries to the families or the school pick-up location. Offering delivery to families who want or need it has made it possible to provide perishable foods such as milk, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables, and meat.
In addition to food donations, the program spends an average of $250 per week for supplemental food items. Volunteers shop at Gleaners, Sam’s Club, Costco, Walmart, Gordon Foods, Meijer, and Kroger using donated coupons whenever possible. All of our cash and gift card donations are used to purchase food. The program’s administrative costs, as well as the logistics of transporting, storing, and delivering food are supplied by volunteers.
In 2018, the Backpack Blessings program was able to provide over 15,000 meals to our families. The importance of this program cannot be overstated. Food insecurity is known to create psychological stress in children and children under stress have difficulty succeeding in school.
A sincere thank you to the following groups and individuals who have donated to the program and to all of the individual and anonymous donors who have made this program possible in 2018. Through their generosity, we were able to raise over $14,000 to support the program.
Clubs and Service Groups: Richmond Lions, Women’s Euchre Club, VFW Aux Post 6802, and Richmond Rotary, Women’s Life Group, Richmond Community Choir.
Churches: Trinity Lutheran, St. Augustine, St. Matthew United Church of Christ – Casco, United Methodist Women’s Club.
School Groups: Richmond High School Interact (Key) Club, Richmond High School Chior
Businesses: Nino Salvaggio International, Kroger, Meijer, Walmart, Costco.
Individuals: Dr. and Mrs. Brian Pradko, Arlene Hicks, Mr. and Mrs. Roger Ptak, Mr. and Mrs. Greg Urban, numerous individual donations from members of the Richmond United Methodist Church.
​If you would like more information, please call the District's Community Liaison & Public Relations Secretary at (586) 727-3565, ext. 6011.