Cathy Cermak, with New Spirit Lutheran in Tucson, shares this story of ELCA World Hunger Daily Bread Grants being added to New Spirit’s work to feed 24 students for a year through Blessings in a Backpack.

Who will feed the kids this weekend? That’s the refrain of Blessings in a Backpack, a national nonprofit organization that partners with schools, churches and community organizations to provide weekend food to kids across America. And that’s the question that tugged at the hearts of congregation members of New Spirit Lutheran Church, located on the east side of Tucson, Arizona. So in 2012 New Spirit began its long-term commitment to address the growing child poverty and hunger in its surrounding neighborhoods.

According to Blessings in a Backpack headquarters, more than 11 million children in America live in food insecure homes. Over the past couple of years, local media has reported that Tucson’s child poverty rate of is higher than the national average. While federal food programs provide free breakfasts and lunches to food insecure children during the week, one out of six kids goes hungry over the weekend. The consequences of hunger for children run deeper than growling tummies. They include weaker immune systems, increased health problems, reduced attention spans and inability to concentrate, lower academic performance and behavioral problems. 

Just $130 feeds a child in the program for the 38 weekends of the school year. Each child receives a bag of nonperishable food that includes cereal, mac and cheese, rice, beans, canned meat, fruit cups, granola bars, etc., to take home over the weekend. 

New Spirit tries to supply enough food to modestly supplement the whole family (e.g., providing a full box of mac and cheese rather than an individual portion). Each week volunteers order and pick up the food from a nearby Walmart partner, pack the bags and deliver them to the schools. 

In 2012, New Spirit began serving 48 kids at two elementary schools. Each year, with generous congregational donations, small grants and other fundraising efforts, New Spirit was able to add more kids and currently feeds 300 from four schools. Even so, administrators from the partner schools report 75-85% of their children qualify for free food programs. New Spirit is barely scratching the surface of the need, and every year the schools ask to add more children. 

With the coronavirus disruption of church schedules, connections and routines, New Spirit’s Blessings in a Backpack fundraising efforts had come to a standstill, impacting the next school year. The ELCA World Hunger Daily Bread Grant, through its virtual format, helped New Spirit spotlight its Blessings in a Backpack ministry and quickly raise funds that would not have been raised. The Daily Bread Grant match plus extra $500 represents a total of $3,100 for New Spirit’s Blessings in a Backpack ministry. That will feed 24 kids over the next school year! New Spirit is so grateful for the extra boost to meet ministry needs!