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Approximately forty volunteers from Chester Valley Ward of Latter Day Saints lent a hand to The Children's Lunchbox weekend food program, "Just a Little Extra," Saturday, January 26.
The volunteer group put together about 4,000 bags of food to combat childhood hunger in Anchorage.
The "Just a Little Extra" program was launched in 2008 after teachers and school nurses nationwide discovered they were forced to "compete against hunger for the attention of their students" on Monday mornings.
The bags, filled with three to four healthy and easy-to-prepare meals, are sent home with students who are identified as "at-risk" of not meeting their nutritional needs over the weekend.
According to The Children's Lunchbox Weekend Food Program Manager, Carl Snyder, the weekend program aids the student's ability to learn come Monday.
"It affects their education, y'know," said Snyder. "If you're hungry you can't really focus on what you're learning in school, so we just want to give the kids something to have over the weekend because they're not in school getting their free or reduced meals."
Students at Ptarmigan, Mountain View, Creekside and Muldoon Elementary Schools will be able to take a bag home for the weekend.
The Children's Lunchbox says they provide more than 2,200 Anchorage students at more than five schools with a bag of food for the weekend.
The Children's Lunchbox is a program of Bean's Cafe.
Contact Jessica Ridgway