On July 15 and 16 approximately 40 volunteers total hauled and packed more than 10,000 pounds of food into boxes for families for the Micah’s Backpack Rural Summer Food Outreach. The project was funded by the Community Foundation of Washington County, managed by WCPS Pupil Personnel Worker Michelle Talbert-Smith along with HARC and the Maryland Food Bank, Western Branch, and hosted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who provided the space and many of the volunteers.
One hundred and fifty families in rural areas of Washington County will be served by the food, which will be hand delivered by WCPS Pupil Personnel Workers starting this week. Families were chosen due to their food insecurity and difficulty accessing area food pantries and other WCPS summer food programs. Each family will receive staples such as oil, cereal, pasta, spaghetti sauce rice, mac & cheese, canned tuna and chicken, soups, peanut butter and jelly, canned fruit, canned vegetables, and snacks.
Micah’s Backpack serves more than 1,200 children each weekend throughout the school year filling the gap when school is out. The program does not operate over the summer and the Micah’s Backpack Steering Team was concerned about food insecurity over the summer for these families. The WCPS Meal Machine operates in key locations in Hagerstown throughout the summer, but not in rural areas. Another WCPS program is offering weekly food throughout the summer for families in rural areas, but families need transportation to those locations and have a limited window of time to pick up the food. The Rural Summer Food Outreach will serve families who are not able to access these programs. We are grateful to the Community Foundation for their financial support which made this program possible! And thanks so much to everyone who helped with this project! Prayers for the PPWs who are out in the heat delivering the food this week!
