Meeting a need

COLLIERS - Nearly a dozen children at Colliers Primary School have come home from school each weekend with backpacks filled not with textbooks or gym clothes, but cans of pasta or soup, fruits and vegetables and various other foods, thanks to the efforts of two local women.

Becky Moore of Weirton said as a regular volunteer at the school, she learned a number of children at the school are from families that are financially struggling.

She and a friend, Cheryl Sako of Steubenville whose son attends the school, decided they could help by seeing that the children leave school each Friday with backpacks filled with nutritious and easy-to-prepare foods.

The children have access to nutritious breakfasts and lunches while at school, they reasoned, but their families may lack the funds to provide balanced meals to them at home.

In addition, providing microwaveable entrees for the children could be of help to families in which both the father and mother work, Moore said.

Because backpacks are now a common part of children's school gear, they offer an inconspicuous way to distribute groceries to the children and for the youth to carry them home, according to Moore.

Sako had heard of other Nazarene churches conducting similar programs, so they turned to fellow members of Weirton First Church of the Nazarene for support.

She coined the program Food for Ewe, using cartoon sheep on brochures used to get the word out to the congregation. Members of the church, which has operated a food pantry for local residents in need for many years, responded eagerly, Moore and Sako said.

Moore said most of the congregation has children in Hancock County schools, not in Brooke County, but she figures everyone has an open heart for a child in need, regardless of where he or she lives.

Monetary donations from church members and others and the pair's skill at bargain-hunting allowed them to fill the backpacks with 22 items, about $10 in food, each week to 11 children. That amounts to $40 per month and $360 per year for one child, they noted.

Moore said she's thankful that grocery stores offer a wide selection of microwaveable main entrees as well as such staples as canned soup and pasta.

The pair also packs fruits, vegetables and snacks, such as popcorn, granola bars, pudding cups or raisins.

"We try to make it different each week," Moore said.

Moore said the two don't know the children they are helping because it would violate school policy protecting the children's privacy.

Staff at the school know which families are struggling and recommended the children who receive the food, and Jo-Ellen Goodall, the school's principal, sees that the backpacks are distributed.

Moore and Sako expressed appreciation to Goodall for her assistance and encouragement.

"I think in this valley many of us are one or two paychecks away from needing a program like this," she said.

The pair regret they aren't able to provide food to the children over the summer but plan to resume the program in the fall.

Monetary donations may be made to the Weirton First Church of the Nazarene, with Food for Ewe in the memo line, at 475 Colliers Way, Weirton, WV 26062.

Noting that 60 percent of children and teens in Brooke County schools are eligible for free or reduced school lunches and breakfasts, Moore and Sako said they'd like to see similar programs begun at other schools and are willing to help others to do that.

(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com)