Youths get weekend meals

Smart Sacks sends meals home with needy students in seven elementary schools

The nonperishable meals are sent to schools in backpacks every Friday for the elementary school-age children, who rely on reduced-lunch programs, to take home on the weekend.

Schools are selected for the program based on participation in the Free and Reduced Meals plan. The program began in 2006 at Summit Hall Elementary in Gaithersburg, and currently benefits 140 students in seven schools, Abrahams said.

Those elementary schools include Summit Hall and Rosemont in Gaithersburg and Fox Chapel in Germantown, said Manna Food Center executive director Amy Gabala.

Downcounty elementary schools that benefit from the program are Olney and Belmont in Olney, Rolling Terrace in Takoma Park and New Hampshire Estates in Silver Spring.

The program will continue during summer school from July to August, Abrahams said.

About 100 volunteers from several organizations and businesses receive food from the center on Wednesdays. The volunteers stuff and deliver backpacks that are distributed to students on Fridays by Linkages to Learning, a county and privately funded program that offers select students and families free health, mental health and social services in 27 county schools.

The backpacks are returned on Mondays.

One employer that is involved is Adventist Rehabilitation Hospital, which has 30 employees who volunteer to help stuff the backpacks.

‘‘It’s a super, super program,” said the Rockville hospital’s chaplain, the Rev. Pat Dickson, 54. ‘‘It doesn’t take much and does a lot of good.”

Adventist Rehabilitation started with Smart Sacks in March, and assists 24 students at Rosemont Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Dickson said.

Other organizations include the Carl M. Freeman Companies, Choice Hotels and the MCT Federal Credit Union.

The program is especially helpful for low-income families with transportation issues, said Alexandra Cuadra, Linkages to Learning case manager and site coordinator at Rosemont Elementary.

‘‘The fact of the matter is that your rent doesn’t fluctuate. There’s no give on that part of your budget, and there’s no give on many parts of the budget, but food and clothes, those are what gets chipped out of when you have a month where you’re coming up short,” Cuadra said.

Parents have expressed thanks for the program, she said.

Many staff members have told Abrahams they see a visible improvement in the students the program helps.

‘‘It does make a big difference for the schools themselves,” Abrahams said. ‘‘[Students] came back to school, were much happier and able to concentrate and focus on their work.”

To Help

Manna Food Center in Rockville is looking for contributors to its Smart Sacks program. Donations can include cans of fruit, canned pasta, oatmeal packets, pudding cups, juice or milk boxes, raisin boxes and more.

For more information or to partner in Smart Sacks, call 301-424-1130 or visit www.mannafood.org.