Blessings in a Backpack receives local donation

In fall 2023 The East Central Association of Realtors Caring Hearts Committee held its annual golf outing at Oak Shadows to benefit the local Blessings in a Backpack program.

With the help of the corporate sponsors, hole sponsors, donors, golfers and volunteers, a donation of over $9,000 was made.

The Caring Hearts Committee has been in existence for the past 16 years and has helped numerous nonprofit organizations in Tuscarawas County.

“For Blessings in a Backpack New Philadelphia, this golf outing makes a huge impact in our program,” said Traci McConnell, the Blessings in a Backpack project co-coordinator for New Philadelphia Schools. “This golf outing provides 10% of our budget, and we appreciate all of the hard work and dedication the Caring Hearts Committee puts in to this golf outing.”

As a leader in the movement to end childhood hunger, Blessings in a Backpack, a national 501(c)(3), mobilizes communities, individuals and resources to provide food on the weekends for school-age children across the United States who might otherwise go hungry.

Locally in Tuscarawas County, 18% of the children or 3,810 children are food insecure. This is where Blessings in a Backpack steps in.

In New Philadelphia, as many as 1,250 students benefit from the Blessings in a Backpack program. Each week volunteers come together to pack and deliver bags full of food with breakfast, lunch and snack items. On Fridays students take the bags home to help bridge the gap from Friday’s school lunch until Monday’s school breakfast. The local Blessings in a Backpack in New Philadelphia is a 100% volunteer program.

“Through Blessings in a Backpack, our entire community — schools, organizations and community members — have had the opportunity to work together and improve the lives of our children by simply sending them home with food for the weekend,” said Kelly Rager, the Blessings in a Backpack project co-coordinator for New Philadelphia Schools. “Hunger should not be a worry or challenge for today’s youth, and it is important that, as a community, we do everything we can to feed them. We have seen the direct and powerful impact that this program has on the students, as well as the families and school as a whole.”

Many people ask how they can help. Packings typically last around one hour, and all ages and abilities can help. A second way to help is by donating particular items to help fill the weekend bags. The third way to help is to donate money by sending to Blessings in a Backpack, P.O. Box 950291, Louisville, KY 40295, and write in the memo New Philadelphia. All of the money donated stays in Tuscarawas County.

For questions or to set up a time to volunteer, call Rager at 330-204-0482 or visit the Facebook page at Quaker Packs.