I don’t really have the words for this one.  It’s heartbreaking that such a program is even necessary in this great country.  But the economy being what it is, and seeing it everywhere around me, it’s not exactly surprising.

In Moberly, Missouri, they’re working to make sure the children in their public schools are being fed on the weekends.

You heard me right.  In Moberly Public Schools, they noticed that some of their kids were only eating in school.  There’s not enough money or food to go around on the weekends.  So the kids were coming into school and stealing lunch boxes and digging through the garbage.

In order to combat this, Moberly started a program, aided by the Central Missouri Food Bank in Columbia.  They fill backpacks with canned soup and ravioli, cereal bars, fruit… Things the kids can prepare for themselves just in case they’re left to fend for themselves while their parents work.  Then they line the backpacks up in the hall, with no names or labels, so the kids can just grab a bag on the way out without the stigma of being poor.

According to the article, schools all over are doing something similar.  This is a pretty cool thing they’re doing.  Matter of fact, I plan to mention it to some of the parents I know around here.  See if they can’t get something started in Schenectady Public Schools.  Lord knows, we need it.