For more information, contact our CES PTO Committee Chair:
Ashley Wallace
ahwallace84@yahoo.com
Blessings in a Backpack is a national non-profit with chapters in 45 States, including other cities in Texas. The Boerne Chapter was started in 2013.
WHAT WE DO
We serve children living in poverty who receive their breakfast and lunch during the week through the Federal Meal Program at school, but often go hungry on the weekends. The BIB program provides food to these children each Friday for the weekend. In addition to providing breakfast, lunch, and three snacks for both Saturday and Sunday, we also provide fresh fruit each week, as well as shelf-stable milk. These are items the children we serve don’t get enough of. This program is completely free to the students.
This program not only helps to alleviate childhood hunger, but children served by BIB nationwide have been shown to have improved attendance, behavior, reading skills, and test scores in school.
HOW WE OPERATE
Each local BIB chapter operates independently and must raise the money to purchase all the food it provides. We are an all-volunteer chapter with no overhead or administrative costs; funds raised are used to purchase food for the children.
WHAT SCHOOLS DO WE SERVE
We serve children at all thirteen schools in the Boerne Independent School District. We serve all seven elementary schools, all three middle schools and all three high schools (which includes the alternative high school, Boerne Academy. In addition, we provide snacks for teachers to distribute to students who can’t afford to bring their own daily snacks to school.
WHAT WE NEED
Since we must raise the funds to purchase the food we provide, we are always in need of monetary donations. It costs approximately $200 to support one child for the entire school year. In addition, we try to obtain donations of peanut butter (16-18 oz plastic jars) since this is one of the more expensive items we provide. Getting this item donated stretches our dollars, which enables us to serve more students.
