Weekend Backpack Program
subtitle: I cried a whole lot
My son started 2nd grade on Tuesday. With the beginning of a new school year comes all the parental homework. Emergency contacts, health info, and permission slips. You know, all the usual beginning of the year bullshit. Until, I came across the Weekend Backpack Program. It's a program that sends kids home with food for the weekends. I goddamn broke down in near sobs. Think about this... some kids don't have enough to eat. Kids.. do not.. have enough... food to eat.
Take a moment to let that sink in.
One in five children are not getting the food and nutrition they need. A simple Google search will yield studies that support that kids aren't paying attention to school if they are hungry. What can you focus on if you're hungry? Food I imagine would be your answer. As adults, we pay attention to hunger. We have ritualized food, for those who can afford it. Children only know it as a growling stomach. A pain that nags. That sprouts into a growl, then a rumble. It's the monster that screams inside of them.
I read the note and the parameters. I read that parents can volunteer and put packs together one day a week, and these packs would be discretely given to those who wish to sign up. Can you imagine a child being embarrassed about not having food?
I can.
There is something inherently humiliating about being poor and not being able to afford the most basic of needs. For me, my mother constantly reminded us that we were poor, and that we didn't have much food. I learned food shame. I learned to hide hunger, try to ignore it, but to take food when I could get it. I struggle with this to this day. This wasn't a constant for me though. I could not imagine now dealing with daily hunger.
I sat there at the table, tears flowing freely as I reread the page. I read it at least six times. Maybe seven. I thought about my son, and that he hasn't had to worry about food insecurity. I thought that there's a high chance that there's a child in his class that does. My heart breaks thinking about this. It doesn't help that I see it and hear it everyday at work. Working with a homeless coalition, you hear things. It never gets easier.
Please, volunteer if you can. Donate when you can. At very least, please don't turn a blind eye to this.
Comments
Post a Comment