Power Snack Visits Grundy Center CSD
posted on Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Our second stop in Grundy County brought us to Grundy Center Elementary where we unloaded 260 Power Snacks for local students in-need. In total we’ll be delivering 1,900 Power Snacks within the county—a contribution valued at $15,200.
“We have several students who simply do not have enough food to eat, especially on weekends,” said elementary principal, Brian Sammons. “When students are well-fed they learn better and have their basic needs met.”
To make sure every student at Grundy Center Elementary starts their day off right, the school offers breakfast and also sends at-risk kids home with food on the weekends through the Backpack program.
“If a teacher recognizes that a student came to school hungry, they will bring them to the lunchroom and try to get them breakfast,” explained Brian. “We do everything we can to help them focus on learning rather than a growling tummy.”
Thanks to Iowa Select Farms and the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation, at-risk children in rural Iowa receive a Power Snack kit containing a $5 coupon for deli ham and a $3 coupon for a loaf of whole wheat bread—the ingredients needed to make their own “Power Snacks” at home.
“As farmers and pork producers, we are passionate about assisting hunger-relief efforts in Iowa, particularly those directed towards children,” said Allyson Ladd of Iowa Select Farms. “Combining the energy and carbohydrates of whole wheat bread with the protein of ham means the children will have made themselves a real Power Snack.”
Power Snack Teacher Kits are being hand-delivered to teachers and school nurses by employees of Iowa Select Farms November 6-19. Teacher Kits contain program information and four packs of coupons for each child, intended for distribution to at-risk children right before Thanksgiving, winter, spring and summer breaks.
"These coupons are great because not only do they ensure that students will have their basic nutrition needs met," said Sammons. "But they do so in a private and easy to use method."
This year, Power Snack will provide 23,267 children across 127 schools with 837,612 meals—a 23 percent increase from 2017.
Subscribe to our newsletter: Get fresh articles delivered straight to your inbox.
Subscribe