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Posted on December 15, 2011 13:05
Community Connections
Building Brighter Lives Minute By Minute
BY PAM KETTERING
Yankton Area United Way
Published: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 10:44 PM CST
The generosity of this community is truly beyond compare! From the cold, snow bound days of January to the flooding waters in early spring to the shopping of toys and other expectations of children for a wondrous Christmas, neighbors take care of neighbors! "Visions of sugarplums dance in their heads" is not to be daunted by the caring hearts of people who call to "adopt a Toys For Kids family." The response to the United Way & Volunteer Services' annual campaign is 20% ahead of last year's contributions at this time.
Lives are being touched minute by minute right here in this little corner of the world. The most amazing miracle of it all is when one life has been improved, the ripples spread to the ocean of people that are not even aware of its origin. The adage is true: when the least of them are uplifted, we are all lifted higher.
Two of the partner agencies that benefit from the community's generosity are featured: The Family Education & Counseling Center and Sack Pack.
The Family Education Counseling Center addressed grief with teenagers In group therapy, family relationships, anger management, and education with a total of 699 people served in 2010. An example of their outcomes with a counselor is as follows:
The young man first came to see me nearly four years ago. He was habitually in trouble both at school and out of school. But over the years as he and I have worked together, talked together and basically learned to trust, the young anxious boy has become a more settled young man. That story could be repeated over and over again as much of the work I do is to be a "Father" to boys who have no father or need a man they can talk to. I am able to do this because of the support the FECC continues to receive from the United Way, as most of these young men are not covered by insurance plans.
Sack Pack provides a sack of food for the weekend so low income students are not coming back to school on Monday only thinking about eating, which dramatically affects their learning capacity.
During this Christmas Season, many of us turn our thoughts to our favorite foods. We look forward to that special holiday dinner or perhaps that special holiday treat. Food and Christmas just seem to go together.
Unfortunately there are those in our community who will not have that special meal or holiday treat. They will struggle to have any food to eat at all. Our schools seek to help by providing students with free and reduced lunches. This program provides healthy well balanced meals for children on weekdays throughout the school year. But what happens to them on the weekends when the children are not in school and there is nothing at home for them to eat? The Yankton Sack Pack program seeks to address this need by providing students with nutritional, child-friendly food to take home for the weekend.
The food chosen is shelf-stable, kid friendly and easily managed by the children. The food is usually packed on Wednesdays by volunteers and distributed to the schools on Fridays. All food is given to the children confidentially.
Some commonly asked questions about the Sack Pack Program are:
• Is there a cost to the school or families? No. The Sack Pack Program is free to the school and families of children in need. The program is supported by donations and sponsorships from the community.
• Who is Eligible for the program? All students are eligible for the Sack Pack Program who feels they have a need.
• Who pays for the food? The Sack Pack Program buys all the food that goes into the packs. Funds for the Sack Pack are provided ONLY by community support as well as an allocation from United Way & Volunteer Services of Greater Yankton. However, this past month our program was very fortunate to receive over 1000 pounds of food through a food drive that was held at our local Wal-Mart. We also have received over 350 donated jars of peanut butter that will be included in our Christmas pack. All of these donations were made by the generous people of our community.
• What schools are participating? We are currently providing meals at Webster and Lincoln and Stewart Elementary Schools. However, effective the first of the year, the Sack Pack program has had to make a very difficult decision and will need to discontinue providing weekend meals to Stewart Elementary due to lack of funds. We are asking our community to join us in our mission to be able to begin providing packs to Stewart again for the school year 2012 - 2013 Our hope is to be able to add Beadle School as soon as funds become available.
• How many children are participating? We currently serve 360 students at Webster, Lincoln, and Stewart Elementary Schools
• What is the cost to provide meals to a child each week? Each weekly pack has an average cost of $3.75. This amounts to $1,350.00 per week to provide packs to all 360 students. ($5,400.00 per month)
One of the best ways individuals, civic groups, churches, foundations, and businesses can help, is to consider helping to sponsor a child. What better way to celebrate this joyous season of giving not only at Christmas, but during the entire school year and beyond. Your gift can be mailed to the Sack Pack Program; P.O. Box 7038; Yankton, SD 57078 or by calling 661-7993. We would very much like to visit with you or your organization and share all of the various ways people can join our effort. This can be arranged by calling 661-7993. Thank you in advance for considering the Sack Pack Program this
Holiday Season! "Because Achieving Doesn't Stop for the Weekend"
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