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It’s well known throughout the Keweenaw that organizations like 31 Backpacks fill a gap in a broken system. Statistics show that 1 in 7 people in the United States struggle with hunger. With rising energy costs, plus the seasonal expense of home heating this time of year, it’s not hard to see why families would have a hard time putting food on the table.
“Someone at the school identifies the students that need a hand up and that determines how many bags we’re going to pack for what we call the Big Pack,” said organization co-founder Laurel Maki.
Each week, a dozen or so make time to fill grocery kits. The kits then get delivered to local schools, and go home with those who need them. This gives those children meals through the weekend. For many students, this Friday will be the last day of school until after the first of the year, meaning that those who depend on the school menu would be additionally malnourished. So each year before Christmas Vacation begins for area students, the group has its celebratory distribution event at Glad Tidings Church, in Hancock.
“Volunteers have packed 840 thirteen gallon packs in 21 minutes. Each student will get 5 bags and a loaf of bread,” said Maki.
More than 150 anonymous children receive help from the organization that depends solely on volunteers. Maki said, “We never know how many are going to show up and were always so surprised and so pleased that the community gets it and they show up.”
These groceries will be enough to feed each student over the vacation period and once school resumes, it’s back to regular operations for the nonprofit organization, providing weekend care packs for the children.
“I don’t know what we would do without our volunteers every week for packing, for delivery, for picking up the food at the food bank. There’s a lot of people involved in keeping this going. Without the volunteers, we wouldn’t be able to do it,” Maki said.
