Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Farmington Group Starts New Food Project
FARMINGTON — The high school’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America recently started a new project to benefit high school students who do not have enough to eat on the weekends.
The first set of backpacks, stuffed with non-perishable items, stove top meals and personal hygiene items, went home to about 20 Farmington High students on Friday, Sept. 13. The plan is to provide backpacks each week, said Pamela House, consumer sciences teacher.
The food is provided by Arkansas Rice Depot and its Food For Kids program. Arkansas Rice Depot started the program to help students who need additional nutrition to reach their full potential in school.
Farmington now is sending food home with students in four of its school buildings. About 45-50 students each at Williams, Folsom and Ledbetter schools also receive food on Fridays to help them make it through the weekend.
House said she received an email about snacks for students from the depot and approached the FCCLA group about taking on the project. Students in her classes will fill the backpacks each week and students will go by the counselor’s office at the end of the day to pick up their food.
“I think it’s going to be an excellent service for our high school students,” House said, adding she’s had students come to her, saying they do not have any food or have other needs at home.
Donna Norsworthy, high school counselor, said the school is hoping to use the program to fill the niche of those families who do not receive any services. In some cases, Norsworthy said the need may only be temporary but she said the school wants to help those students when it can.
“Since I’ve been here, I think there’s been an increased need,” Norsworthy said. “It was easy to come up with 20 students and there may be more as the year goes by. My biggest concern is that there are others we don’t know about.”
The other schools receive their weekend food from the Samaritan House and Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, said Karla Long, counselor at Folsom and Ledbetter schools. She said the schools receive the food items in plastic bags and teachers place the bags in the students’ backpacks while they are out of the classroom.
The only qualification is that the parents have to return a signed permission slip for their child to receive the food. No proof of income is required. The number of bags is based on the school’s free and reduced lunch percentage but Long said Samaritan’s House has never refused a child.
“I think it helps the kids’ confidence and makes them more prepared for learning,” Long said.
The percentage of students on the free and reduced lunch program varies by school, according to Gina Smith, child nutrition director.
Folsom Elementary has the highest rate, with 57 percent of the students qualifying for the free and reduced lunch program. For Williams and the middle school, the rate is 45 percent and the free and reduced lunch rate is 50 percent at Ledbetter. The high school has the lowest rate, 35 percent, but Smith said the district has a hard time getting high school students to return the forms for free and reduced lunch. She suspects the actual percentage is closer to 40 percent.