Shaler Area Backpack Initiative dishes up meals for more than 100 district students a week

Shaler Area is seeking secret Santas to help feed district children – but the good deed will last long after the holidays.

The district’s Backpack Initiative provides weekend meals to more than 100 children in kindergarten through eighth grade, dishing out easy-to-prep meals and single-serving snacks to ensure nutrition isn’t missed when kids are away from the classroom.

District guidance counselor and program coordinator Maryann Swartz said countless families have benefited from the program.

“Many families have reported that the food has been a blessing, especially now,” Swartz said.

Particularly, with remote learning because of the rise in covid-19 cases across the region, organizers are concerned about children not being in school where they are guaranteed two meals a day.

Donations of money, food and child-friendly snacks are accepted weekdays while a team of retired educators and community volunteers pack the food bags.

Founded in 2014, the program has found a new home in the Emmanuel Lutheran Church along Grant Avenue in Etna.

“We are blessed with the ability to offer the facility to host the efforts in a socially distanced and masked environment,” Pastor JJ Lynn said.

Lynn credited a strong working relationship between the church and school that has resulted in vital support for families.

“Especially in this prolonged period of crisis,” he said.

Already, the program has received three significant donations to keep it afloat during the pandemic.

The Shaler Area Rotary Club gave $5,000; Kops for Kids donated $1,000; and Glenshaw Century Club and a group of Glenshaw neighbors rounded up two hefty food donations.

“That is the best part of our small organization,” Rotary member Nuket Curran said.

“We are, at the end of the day, a community organization. Seeing the struggles of our fellow community members during this pandemic, we knew it was the right thing to do and we will do it again and again as we are able.”

Bethany Baker, district spokeswoman, said the weekend food distribution is one of several that strive to put food into the hands of families who need it.

The district’s food service department doles out free breakfasts and lunches while the district is in virtual instruction, and Elfinwild Presbyterian Church in Shaler and North Hills Community Outreach in Millvale also serve as pick-up sites during remote learning.

There are no eligibility requirements to participate in the food programs. Interested families can enroll by completing the online form at sasd.k12.pa.us/BackpackInitiative.

Donations are accepted at Emmanuel Lutheran Church, 66 Grant Ave., from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. weekdays.

Financial donations can be made payable to Shaler Area School District with “Backpack Initiative” in the memo line and mailed to 1800 Mt. Royal Blvd., Glenshaw, PA 15116.