 Barbara Hicks, left, and Sherry Olsen, Friday Backpack Program volunteers, weigh food that will be given to children at Island City Elementary School. - The Observer/DICK MASON The child was riding home on a school bus during a recent Friday afternoon. Suddenly he looked up and told its driver — “I’m so lucky, I get to have dinner tonight!’’ Linda Holman Engle of La Grande, a community volunteer, felt elated and a little sad when the boy’s words were later relayed to her. She explained that the boy is one of 50 children being assisted by the new Friday Backpack Program — a program taking a bite out of child hunger at Island City Elementary. Through the program children from low-income families are provided with bags of food each Friday, which they take home. The bags weigh about 6 pounds and are filled with items such as canned tuna, chicken, soup, Rice a Roni, oatmeal, granola, fruit drinks, fruit and pudding cups and much more. All are donated or purchased with contributed money. Often the items prove to be significant sources of food for children of low-income families over the course of a weekend. “It warms my heart when I see how excited they are to get the food,’’ Engle said. At the same time, Engle feels sadness upon hearing about children like the boy on the bus because his excitement indicates how desperate the home situation is for many children. “I get tears in my eyes though thinking that this is all we can do for them,’’ Engle said. Engle is one of about 18 volunteers who help run the local Friday Backpack Program. The volunteers collect and purchase food and bring it to a pantry at The Church of Christ in La Grande. Each Tuesday they record the weight of new food brought in and on Thursday they pack it into bags. The food is brought to Island City Elementary on Fridays. Backpack volunteer Carlene Crampton remembers how excited a student got when he saw the food being brought in one Friday. “Wow! It looks like you are going to have a party,’’ the boy said. The students receiving the food have reason to feel as happy as the merriest of party-goers. They often feel pride. “It gives children a sense of self-worth to bring food home for the family,’’ Crampton said. Children are proud to bring home food but some might be embarrassed to have their classmates know of their family’s needy status. The means of distribution at Island City Elementary is thus designed to prevent others from knowing who receives the food. All items are put in the students’ backpacks. Since almost all children bring backpacks to school it is easy for students receiving food to keep it a secret. Children receiving food who do not have backpacks are provided one. The local Friday Backpack Program is part of a nationwide effort that started in Iowa several years ago. Island City students first began receiving food via the Friday Backpack Program on Oct. 24. Food for 10 children was first provided. Donations since then have increased so much that today 50 children from 37 families are provided with food each Friday. Such growth reflects the remarkable community support the program is receiving. “Little miracles keep happening,’’ Engle said. She noted that she recently spoke at a meeting of the La Grande Noon Lions Club about the Friday Backpack program. She left with $260 in donations. “It is in people’s spirit to give if you provide them with a cause,’’ Engle said. The many other people stepping forward include local grocery store managers. Engle noted that recently someone was purchasing a sale item for which there was a limit of six per customer. A store manager then discovered that the food was being purchased for Friday Backpack and said “Go ahead and get 12.’’ Friday Backpack items are often purchased by volunteers who are astute bargain hunters. “They are super shoppers, coupon queens who smell out a deal in a pantry,’’ Engle said. All Backpack food purchased must meet nutritional requirements regarding calories, fat, sugar, protein and fiber. Friday Backpack volunteer Sherry Olsen said people outside the program sometimes get frustrated when they see the restrictions. Some ask if they can make a donation instead and have Backpack volunteers purchase the food. “I tell them, ‘No problem, I love to shop, that is what women do best,’” Olsen said. Donations to Friday Backpack are tax-deductible because the program is run under the umbrella of the First Presbyterian Church in La Grande. The connection provides Friday Backpack with 501(c)(3) tax deduction status. The pantry space at The Church of Christ is provided free of charge. Each bag of food Island City students receive has about $10 worth of food, Friday Backpack volunteer Barbara Hicks said. Food that will help children grow physically and intellectually. A hungry child does not learn well, Hicks said. “A hungry child is like a car without gas — if it doesn’t have fuel (food), it can’t learn.’’ Engle, who earlier taught grade school in Western Oregon, concurs. She witnessed for years how desperate children from low income families get for food. “Kids are resilient but as an educator I know children are not resistant to hunger. “It upsets them and they will not do homework (if hungry).’’ In Western Oregon Engle saw the desperate measures hungry children took to get food. “They would barter with others: a pencil for that candy bar or the promise of letting them be first in line first the next day if they (classmates) shared a sack of chips with them,’’ Engle said. She feels compelled to reach out to children, for despite their strength, energy and resiliency, they are sometimes powerless. “We can control our environment. They cannot control theirs,’’ Engle said. For some children prolonged hunger is a new experience because of the sinking economy. “They may have taken for granted at one time that there would be food in the fridge and then suddenly with layoffs ... not only are tempers tense in the house, but there is a scarcity of food.” Other children have lived with food insecurity all their lives, Engle said. “They don’t know what it’s like to get up in the morning and be able to choose what to have for breakfast, to give their input about what goes into their sack lunch and to know that there will be some kind of snacks when they come home from school. Everyday for these kids is an uncertainty. They go to bed hungry. They wake up hungry and they have no resources to go out and find food.’’ Island City Elementary was selected for the Friday Backpack Program because a high percentage of its students qualify for free and reduced-cost lunches because they are from low-income families. Friday Backpack leaders hope to expand their program to other Union County schools in the near future, Engle said. Drop sites for people who want to make food contributions are at the following locations: • Cook Memorial Library • Island City Elementary School • the Oregon State University Extension office in Island City • the Zion Lutheran, Nazarene and First Presbyterian churches in La Grande • Grande Ronde Retirement Residence • Bugs and Butterflies • the J. Burcart Law office, 902A Sixth St. Donation checks should be mailed to Friday Backpack Program, 1308 Washington Ave., La Grande 97850. | 
