The Regional Inter-Faith Association (RIFA) will be hosting the ninth annual Pack the Bus food drive Saturday, September 26th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at three locations across Jackson to benefit the Snack Backpack ministry.
On this day, the community is encouraged to shop at your local Walmart and Kroger locations to help pack Jackson-Madison County school buses full of nonperishable food items to support the Snack Backpack program.
Volunteers will be at North Walmart (2196 Emporium Dr), Kroger Lynnwood (941 North Pkwy), and Kroger University Parkway (35 W University Pkwy) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. helping to give out grocery lists, load the buses, and take food and monetary donations.
Items include the following:
● Pop-Tarts
● Apple Sauce (single-serve packs)
● Oatmeal (single-serve packs)
● Chicken Noodle Soup (with pop-tops)
● Microwavable Popcorn (individually wrapped)
● Macaroni and Cheese (individual packets/ bowls)
● Ravioli (with pop-tops)
● Canned Vegetables
● Canned Fruits
Through Snack Backpack, RIFA is able to serve 14 different schools by providing 1,200 backpacks each week throughout the school year. Each snack backpack provides children with six meals and two snacks. With new circumstances due to the pandemic this year, Snack Backpacks are being distributed from the school’s on Wednesday’s in addition to the school’s multiple-day meal service provided by the cafeteria.
“This event lets us invest in our kids as an entire community to support the Snack Backpack program,” says Lisa Tillman, RIFA Executive Director. “Childhood hunger is a real problem, especially with children currently participating in distance learning, and we want to do everything we can to combat it. This is a great opportunity for individuals, churches, and businesses to come together to support an effort that is truly making an impact.”
Unfortunately, many school children are home with little or no food over the weekends. To fight this, RIFA’s Snack Backpack program, with the help of teachers and school counselors, is able to help meet this need by providing kid-friendly, easy-to-prepare, nutritious meals to students who are at risk of going hungry over the weekends.
Childhood hunger is an issue not just around the world but in our community. Studies show that children who live in food-insecure environments are more likely to face social, developmental, and psychological problems.
“Kids who are hungry are not focused. Kids who are hungry cannot learn,” says Aimee Evans, Arlington Elementary’s school counselor. “The partnership with RIFA is so integral because it allows us to make sure their basic needs are being met on the weekends so that when they are in class on Monday morning they are ready to go.”
About RIFA
RIFA is a Christian non-profit organization that reaches out with the love of Christ to help people in need by providing physical and spiritual nourishment. In 1976, local churches and community leaders came together to discuss the growing poverty levels in Jackson, Tennessee. The problem: each individual church and civic organization did not have the resources to effectively provide relief for those in need. To coordinate a united effort, they formed a separate agency to help: The Regional Inter-faith Association (RIFA).
For more information, visit www.rifajackson.org