Charitable Programs

Weekend Back Pack Program

Denise Shay, Executive Program Director

Cheryl Davis, Program Coordinator

At its inception in 2007 this program supplied Weekend Back Packs to just twenty- seven children. The program allowed, for the first time, weekend food to be available for children in need in Yates County. This program proved to be very successful in warding off weekend hunger. With generous support from Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation and community donors, the Weekend Back Pack Program has grown to 500 bags of food packed per week. Each pack consists of kid-friendly, easy to prepare, non-perishable food for nutritional insurance on weekends. The back packs are distributed, every Friday, over the 40 week regular/summer school sessions averaging over 18,000 back packs per year. Along with addressing food insecurities, this program also allows distribution of educational materials, and community programs opportunities to assist local families in becoming more self-sufficient.

School Supplies Program

Denise Shay, Executive Program Director

Jan Barrett, Board President

The School Supplies Program goal is to assure that each child is prepared for a successful school year by being provided teacher-requested school supplies. Throughout the year, supplies are distributed as needed by social workers to students in grades pre-K through high school. Dedicated volunteers keep this program going with generous support from the Nord Family Foundation. Currently over 850 book bags of various learning materials (pencils, folders, notebooks, etc) are prepared for various grade levels and distributed.