Gerry Barker, School Nutrition Director of the Geneva City School District gave a presentation on the District’s Backpack Program.  He outlined the level of poverty in Geneva Schools to emphasize the necessity of this program:

• 2149 enrolled students UPK-12 in Geneva
• 1360, or 63.3% are qualified for free and reduced price meals
• 1217 of them, or 57%, are directly certified meaning that they receive SNAP benefits, Medicaid, are in foster care, migrants or are homeless.

The Backpack Program

$12,206 of food was given to the children in the program since September.

• 160 backpacks are distributed twice a month
• In March, the number of bags was increased from 140 to 160 after the Geneva Family School Association donated $725
• Foodlink received various grants throughout the year that reduced spending by approx. $1100.
• $9566 of the Rotary donation and $815 from other donations was spent on the backpacks.
• Approximately $4.40 is spent for every bag distributed with $5.50 being spent on each bag before the holidays.
• 2017-2018 will increase distributions from 18 to19 times per year.
• Bags will be supplemented with more “kid friendly” items, spending an additional $2.00 per bag.

Comments

The question was raised as to why there weren’t more healthy choices of foods, noting that most of the items contained a lot of sugar.  Cost is a factor, as well as including foods that are appealing to kids.  It was suggested that maybe snacks such as granola bars, or fruit snacks be included.

There will be a farm stand (not sure of the location) which will distribute fruits and vegetables to families in need.

Check Presentation

As a fitting conclusion, a check for $10,000 was presented to the Geneva City School District to support the Backpack Program.