New program feeds hungry children over the weekend

KCBY, Nov 1, 2006

“Because no one should be hungry,” that’s the reason why Oregon Coast Community Action is starting up a special meal program for 100 elementary school students.Friday will be the first day that the Share Bear Snack Pack Program officially goes into effect.According to Mary Schone-Clark, CEO of ORCCA, the program is designed to meet the needs of hungry children when food isn’t readily available.”Well the Share Bear Snack Pack Program is an example of community action in action, because really only about three months ago we saw this as a major concern. And Wal-Mart provided us with a $20,000 grant to get this program up and going,” she said.The way the program works is that every Friday children are given a bag of snacks to eat over the weekend.

All of the food items are simple, easy-to-open boxes or containers that require no preparation, and the children have access to all the time.

But since the program is just in the beginning stages, they are only able to supply food for 50 children in Coos Bay and another 50 in Reedsport.

But Schone-Clark says the need is much greater than just 100 children.

“We understand that children are coming to school on Mondays very hungry. In fact, if you talk to cooks, they’ll tell you they double the amount of food they provide children on Mondays, because they’re not getting enough over the weekend.”

Even more shocking, she says, “Some children are literally shaking in line as they wait for their lunch, because they haven’t had enough calories over the weekend.”

ORCCA hopes to double or even triple the number of children they can feed by next school year.

But to do that, they need some help, to find out what you can do log on their web-page at www.orcca.us