Backpack Project
Backpack Project
In 2010-11, our club became aware of many students at Frenship I.S.D. living in dire poverty. Their sole source of meals were the ones they received at school, partly because the school buses were their only means of transportation from their remote and rural homes.
On weekends, however, these students had no reliable way of obtaining meals. Most of the time they returned back to school on Mondays, unable to function due to hunger and its consequences.
The school district had a self-supported program in place in conjunction with area organizations for sending weekend foods home with these students, as supplies were available.
What was missing were sturdy and large enough containers to carry enough groceries home to last the weekend.
The Rotary Club of Lubbock stepped in to assist with this need.
Through its very successful fundraising efforts and member support, our club provided over 300 backpacks to elementary schools within Frenship I.S.D. and also purchased enough foods to be sent home with 300 students for spring break 2011.
Since then, the project has expanded and evolved to support all schools at Frenship - elementary, middle and high school.
Over the years, the Rotary Club of Lubbock has provided foods and backpacks for covering the long Christmas breaks, where students had no reliable meals for over two weeks.
The project now supplies over 24,000 servings of food in backpacks for students of all ages.
This food supply became even more critical for these students and their families in the winter of 2015, when blizzard Goliath blanketed the South Plains and left most residents stranded and snowed-in under feet of snow for over a week.
The Rotary Club of Lubbock is dedicated to maximizing this opportunity to eradicate hunger at its own doorstep and supporting the residents in our own area in a direct, simple, impactful and efficient way.
