June 18, 2010
NOBLE COUNTY, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) – Many parts of northeast Indiana having been hit hard with unemployed especially in Kendallville. But thanks to a teacher and student volunteers young children no longer have to go hungry.
“It just gives me butterflies inside, it’s the best feeling in the world, it really is.”
Recognizing a problem and doing something about it that's what Boomerang Backpacks is all about.
The program feeds nearly 800 elementary school children but began as a simple community initiative.
Program Coordinator Mark Cockroft says, "A year ago our unemployment rates were starting to sky rocket, as well as the fact we noticed here in the east noble schools, that our free and reduced lunch rates were starting to go up, so through some coordination with the school and basically seeing what was going on in the news, we addressed a problem we saw that was taking place that we wanted to go after."
The Boomerang Backpack Program currently serves 4 local school districts in Northeast Indiana, but after today's conference they'll be about 10 different schools and they'll all pass out these backpacks every weekend to children in need.
Dekalb Central Alternative H.S. Senior Felean Shisler says, “They all have their little red backpacks on and they come out with big smiles and just ready to go. I think they kinda feel a little bit cooler with the extra added backpack but they don’t understand but it’s nice to know they have food over the weekend.”
The goal is simple but funding isn't.
It takes about $7,500 to buy food for each school.
Student volunteers say they're willing to do what it takes to keep the project up and running.
Shisler says, “They always have community to fall back on, and we're always gonna be here to help them out, whether it be food or clothes or any other type of need they might have.”
Just like the old proverb, it takes a village or a Kendallville, to raise a child.
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