The Rotary Club of Ponte Vedra stuffed backpacks for The Blessings in A Backpack Program in December and also presented a $500 check. The program’s leaders joined the Rotarians to provide holiday break food to elementary- and middle-school children who might otherwise go hungry. The holiday break offerings included notes of affirmation written by the Interact Club members of Bartram Trail High School.
“This partnership will significantly enhance our efforts to support the mission of eliminating food insecurity for youngsters in need,” said Ponte Vedra resident Sharon Kehoe, who leads the local community-led Blessings efforts. “This year we added 60 additional children to our Backpack program, and the support from the Rotary Club will have a significant impact on our ability to ensure that children will have nutritious meals on the holiday break.”
The local Ponte Vedra/Palm Valley Group Blessings volunteer group meets once a week during the school year to pack nutritious food for children who are fed by the federally funded meal program during the school week but may go home on Fridays and during breaks to empty cupboards and refrigerators.
“The grant money we receive is used exclusively for food purchases,” Kehoe said. “We are a totally volunteer group, and 100% of the money raised by the donation or grants goes towards the purchase of food for the student food bags.”
The group packs nearly 300 weekend food bags each week and relies on funding from organizations like THE PLAYERS Championship, Christ Church, local Rotary Clubs, private donations and school PTOs and fundraisers. It costs approximately $150 to provide weekend food for one child for the school year.
The Ponte Vedra/Palm Valley Blessings in A Backpack group meets every Thursday morning at Christ Church in the Westbury Hall dining room to pack the weekend food bags. Volunteers from the packing session then distribute the bags to PVPV/Rawlings Elementary School, Ocean Palms Elementary School, Landrum Middle School, Valley Ridge Academy, Palm Valley Academy, Pine Island Academy, Rhoda Martin Early Learning Center and Seabreeze Elementary in Jacksonville Beach.
For more information about the Ponte Vedra Rotary Club, go to pontevedrarotary.org and attend one of its regular meetings on the first or third Tuesday of each month at Really Good Beer Stop in Nocatee at 11:30 a.m.
