HANCEVILLE – Hunger is a bigger problem in Cullman County than we would like to think. In a recent interview, Laurel Moffatt of the North Alabama Food Bank stated that around 4,800 Cullman County children live under the constant threat of hunger. Several agencies are actively addressing the problem, and children in the Hanceville area have a special group of friends in Hanceville Knapsacks for Kids (HKK).
Sandy Waters shared a little about who the organization is and what it does. Each Friday of the school year, HKK distributes to approximately 50 area students backpacks containing a weekend's worth of nutrition:
- 4 meal items – canned ravioli or spaghetti, or other ready-to-eat foods
- 2 breakfast items – cereal, breakfast bars
- 2 specially formulated milk servings that do not require refrigeration
- 2 juice servings
- 1 bottled water
- 2 fruit cups
- 2 pudding cups
- 4 snacks
- disposable utensils
Kids pick up the loaded knapsacks at school on Friday afternoons, and drop them back off on the following Mondays, all the way through the school year. This last week, because of the holiday break, double portions of all contents were included. HKK will do the same thing before the Christmas break, and also add school supplies and small gifts for the kids.
All this help doesn't come free, but the group has figured out how to maximize its resources. Through private donations and its partnership with the North Alabama Food Bank, HKK is able to do what they do for $5 per child per week.
But that adds up to $1,000 or more per month, and a lot of knapsacks to stuff almost every week through the school year. It takes a team, and HKK has one: three civic clubs and nine churches make up the local organization: Hanceville Culture Club, Hanceville Civitans, the Highway 91 Homemakers' Club, Hanceville First Baptist Church, Hanceville First United Methodist Church, Trinity Lutheran Church, Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church, Hopewell Baptist Church, Stout's Mountain Baptist Church, Fairview West Baptist Church, Center Hill Baptist Church, and HKK's newest member Garden City Church of God.
Hanceville's mayor and city council have long supported the program, and provide HKK space at the Hanceville Civic Center to pack bags. Each member organization comes at least twice during the school year to do the packing. On Thursday mornings at 8:30, someone will be there; those who are interested in helping out or learning more are invited to stop by. Donations of goods or money are always welcome.
More information can be found on the organization's Facebook page "Hanceville Knapsacks for Kids."
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