Food for Thought
Posted by John Halbleib on Sep 22, 2016
Teachers from McHenry High School presented “Food for Thought”, a program which the McHenry High School offers to some of their students. Click here for a full description of the "Food for Thought" program. Here are a few details.
“In an effort to help our students reach their full learning potential, McHenry High School District 156 realized that we had to come face to face with the struggles our students encounter each day before they even step inside our schools. One of the most prevalent issues some experience is the lack of enough quality food in their diets to help sustain their ability to learn. In 2014, according to Feeding America.org, “Although related, food insecurity and poverty are not the same, poverty in the United States is only one of many factors associated with food insecurity. In fact, higher unemployment, lower household assets, and certain demographic characteristics also lead to a lack of access to adequate, nutritious food.” Some important statistics that will help clarify the problems: [. . . .]
In McHenry High School District 156, 1 in 3.6 students qualify for a free lunch which requires the family to be at or below the poverty line (a family of four: approximately $24,000 yearly income). McHenry High School School District 156 is instituting a program (Food for Thought) to help with those students that are in need. We believe that by offering a food pantry at the school, we will help our students make the most of their education. The Food for Thought program provides a weekend supply of nutritious food for children, commonly for low-income families, to replace the school meals that children miss during their weekend or extended breaks from school. Each weekend, we hope to provide a food bag that contains enough food for two breakfasts, two lunches, two snacks. All food is nonperishable.
Children will be able to opt-in and opt-out of the program. We invite you to help as this will be run completely by wonderful volunteers; we will need folks to help pack food bags weekly and find and organize fundraising and donation drives that keep the program running, as it will be funded through the generous gifts of potential community donors.”
Pictured here from left to right are Ashley L. Diedrich (an English teacher at McHenry High School, West Campus), Aubrey Francis (a history teacher at McHenry High School, West Campus), and Terry Fitzgibbons (Associate Principal, McHenry Community High School District 156)