Many hands make a difference: BackPack Program ready to fend off hunger

(Sentinel photo by Magdalene Landegent) Volunteers Lynn Baumgartner and Nicki Ellensohn, both of Le Mars, help pack 140 bags of food to give to students through the Le Mars BackPack Program, which kicked off Monday night. [Click to enlarge]

The Le Mars BackPack Program officially kicked off Monday with volunteers assembling bags of nutritious snacks that will be delivered weekly to dozens of elementary students.

"We've got some hungry kids in Plymouth County," said Brenda Nohava, of Le Mars, one of the lead organizers behind the program.

Students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch can participate in the BackPack Program, as long as their parents give permission.

In the county, nearly 20 percent of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch in 2008, up from 18 percent in 2000.

At the end of every week, those in the Le Mars BackPack Program will pick up a bag of nutritious snacks like granola bars and applesauce to put in their backpacks and take home.

"We're hoping to get different items in the sacks each week," Nohava said.

This week, the bags also include a strawberry cereal bar, Honey Nut Cherrios, a fruit juice box, cheese crackers, a package of oatmeal and peanut butter crackers.

Nohava modeled her idea after a similar one in Sioux City, which now delivers 3,500 snack sacks each week.

In Le Mars, the project is starting out small, offered only to elementary students at Clark Elementary and Gehlen Catholic Schools Elementary in Le Mars.

Eventually, Nohava plans to expand it to other elementary schools. Her hope is to offer the snack sacks to students at Franklin Elementary in Le Mars by mid-February.

Nohava purchased the food through the Food Bank of Siouxland and Fareway, in Le Mars, which volunteered to help with the project.

Donations are paying for the food and operation of the program.

Each bag of food costs about $1.60.

"We started out with zero dollars and now we have more than $20,000," Nohava said.

One donation came from a card club in Merrill, whose members decided to forego giving each other Christmas gifts and gave the money to the BackPack Program instead.

"A church group from St. Joseph in Le Mars did the same thing," Brandy Sanchez, Nohava's daughter and one of the organizers, added.

Volunteers pack the bags weekly in a renovated room at Nohava Construction in Le Mars.

"People can call or stop by if they want to volunteer," Nohava said. "We already have a list and we will be calling them."

Nohava is available by phone at 546-8872.

Fifteen members of the DY-TTT club, a service-oriented women's group, were among the project's first volunteers Monday night, packing the bags.

Before they left, club members also handed the Nohavas a $500 donation to help keep the program rolling.

Nohava said she's excited for the bags to be delivered to students.

"I hope they act like it's their birthday every Friday," Nohava said. "I'm pumped."