Bunker Hill, IL Blessings in a Backpack

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Bunker Hill, IL
Bunker Hill, IL Blessings in a Backpack

While they receive breakfast and lunches at school on the weekdays, many of these children have little or no access to food over the weekends.

Blessings in a Backpack is a charitable organization created to feed school age children whose families qualify for the federally-funded free and reduced meal price program. Real hunger exists in our community, often as an invisible problem. In our school district, 264 students are eligible for free and reduced lunches. Hunger does not stop for these children on the weekends. Hunger can lead to d

ifficulties in academics, behavior, and school attendance. Blessings in a Backpack relies on funding from generous organizations and individuals. Monetary donations are utilized to purchase food items for the weekend; 2 breakfast items, 2 entrees, and 2 snacks. It takes $100 per student to supply a weekend worth of food for the 38 week school year. Your contributions to Blessings in a Backpack help to combat hunger and make a brighter future for these children. Together we are feeding the future of Bunker Hill, one student and one bag at a time. For additional information, call Trista (618) 520-9594
or email Becca at [email protected]

Donations by check should be made payable to:
Blessings in a Backpack
On the memo line, please write Bunker Hill, IL #1862
Mail to:
Bunker Hill Blessings
c/o Becca Ramirez
10998 Fahrenkrog Rd
Bunker Hill IL 62014-2317

Donations may be made online at:
https://www.blessingsinabackpack.org/donate-to-a-specific-program-or-school/
**Please enter in Bunker Hill IL #1862 in the school designation box. Thanks for your support! Trista Manar & Becca Ramirez

06/15/2023

Happy (almost) Summer! It’s been awhile since I’ve posted any updates but rest assured I spent the school year sending weekend food bags home with students in our district. I’m writing now to ask for your help, but first a little background. I brought this National program to Bunker Hill in 2017. This fall will be my 6th school year running it. Since 2020, I have worked full time in our school district which has made it even easier to get food home to students. I have also been able to incorporate it as a volunteer opportunity for middle school students to help pack the food. Each year since the program started we have served anywhere between 25-50 students. It takes roughly $2,000-$3,000 (depending on student numbers) per school year to send food home. The program has been blessed over the last 6 years with donations from businesses, churches, organizations, individuals, and school wide hat days. I don’t often solicit for donations or host fundraisers because, in my opinion, this program only needs enough funds to get through each school year. However, the time has come to ask for your consideration in making a donation. Donations are tax deductible as Blessings in a Backpack is a 501(c)(3). Checks should be made payable to Blessings in a Backpack. In the memo line, please indicate Bunker Hill #1862. Every donation goes directly to benefit students here in our community. I am happy to pick up donations or they can be mailed to:
Wolf Ridge Education Center
c/o Trista Manar
700 W. Orange Street
Bunker Hill, IL 62014
I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for considering!
Trista

09/09/2022

We’re back!
Students and staff can wear a hat on Friday by donating $1.
Every donation made directly benefits the students in our district.
Thanks for supporting us in our 6th year of serving Bunker Hill students! 💙💛

04/16/2020

Just a quick update regarding Blessings in a Backpack during this time of remote learning.
During the school closure, we have continued to prepare weekend bags and have distributed them at the lunch pick up sites; Wolf Ridge and the Superintendent's Office, or they have been delivered to those with home delivered meals.
Last week, we received GREAT news that we were selected for a small grant to pay for weekend meals through the end of the school year.
They are a bit different than our normal weekend bags, but do include breakfast and snack items.
You DO NOT have to have received Blessings in the past. If you are a current student and in need of the extra food for the weekend, please just ask at your pick up location on FRIDAY of each week.
Additionally, remember we have a food pantry in town open on Wednesday mornings and there is a Snack in the Box available at First Congregational Church.

12/19/2019

Fun memories this week delivering holiday bags! 😊 We had to improvise with snow days and trudge through some snow but we got it done! ❄️🥶 Special thank you to the following for contributing to the Christmas bags; Nick and Lacey Wieseman, Todd and Michelle Dugan, David and Shonda Ronen, Dave and Pam Monetti, Bethany Spickerman, Billie Bauer, Darla Searcy, Dawn Markel, Rick and Meghan Sparling, Bill and Deanna Mize, the ENTIRE Wolf Ridge faculty for their continued support of the program—from their jean days donations to their welcoming and friendly assistance when we need it, Jennifer at the high school for handling the weekly bag distribution there, and finally to Superintendent Dugan and his staff for their support and storage space. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We wish everyone a blessed Christmas and New Year!

12/10/2019

Thank you to everyone who donated items for the Christmas bags and helped spread the word! All items have been fulfilled! Please get everything to Becca or Trista no later than Monday the 16th so we have time to assemble before delivery. Thanks and Happy Holidays!!🎄

12/03/2019

Looking for a way to give on this Giving Tuesday? Here’s an opportunity to give back to children in our very own community! We are working on our annual Christmas bags and would love your support. These bags will be delivered to students and families to help keep their cabinets stocked over the long Christmas break.

Below are some items we need.

Note: You are not expected to purchase the full quantity listed. This is just how many families and/or students we have; 31 families and 56 students. Please just indicate how many you wish to buy and we will adjust the quantity. Thank you so much for your consideration and generosity!

Cereal (full size box or bag)-Done.
Todd 15

Granola bar box-Done.
Sparlings 31

Pop tart box-Done.
31

Mac and cheese box- Done. Shonda-31

Mac and cheese cups- Done.
56

Ravioli (or any canned pasta)- Done.
Lacey-28

Soup (microwaveable at hand would be great)- Done.
56

Popcorn box- Done.
Bethany 31

Animal crackers/graham crackers- Done.
Billie 31

Chips/pretzels full size bag- Done.
Bill & Deanna 31

Fruit cups (4 packs) - Done.
Pam 31

Christmas snack cake box- Done.
Darla 31

Hot chocolate box- Done.
31

09/17/2019

Whew! This is what roughly 1,500 pounds of food looks like! 😱 It’s been awhile since we’ve posted but we are still busy and moving right along! Can you believe this is our third year?! We couldn’t have done it without our awesome community. We sincerely thank each church, organization, and individual who have helped our program! 👏🏻❤️
Special thank you to Mr. Dugan and Bethany Spickerman for braving the heat with us today to unload the pallet. 🔥 💪🏻 And to our school district for sharing storage space with us.
We are already serving 49 students, ranging from pre-k to high school, and expect the number to go up as the school year continues.
Donations are always accepted and appreciated and are tax deductible! Contact us if you would like to contribute.
Blessings,
Trista and Becca
💙💛❤️🖤

05/16/2019

The end of the school year is right around the corner. We have faithfully served 48 students with food for the weekends. We want to start their summer off with special summer break bags that we will deliver to their homes. Below is our wish list.

**Note: You do not have to purchase the full quantity. Any amount is helpful. Simply comment below on the post with the item you would like and the quantity you will purchase. We’ll try to keep this updated but please read the comments above yours to avoid duplicates.

Many, many thanks for your continued support!

Applesauce cups: Done

Cheese sandwich crackers: Done

Cereal: Done

Peanut Butter: 3 jars—-Done

Jelly: Done

Bread: 24 loaves——Done

Pancake Mix: Done

Syrup: Done

Poptarts: 3 boxes——Done

Granola bars: Done

Mac & Cheese: Done

Oatmeal: Done

Fruit cups: Done

Kool-aid/Lemonade: 24 canisters

Pizza kits: 24 boxes

Animal/Graham crackers: Done

Blessings-
Trista and Becca

02/14/2019

Happy Birthday! Blessings in a Backpack is celebrating it’s 10th year! We received this fun little pack and celebrated our 2nd year as a program in Bunker Hill. We currently serve 48 students ranging from PreK to High School and couldn’t do it without the support of so many individuals, organizations, churches, and our outstanding school district and teachers. Happy Birthday Blessings! 🎂🎉🎈

12/20/2018

And that’s a wrap! We loaded up our “sleigh” today and delivered Christmas bags to 48 students and their families. Becca and I thank each of the donors for making the bags a success! We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and blessed New Year!

11/30/2018

Thank you for the quick and overwhelming response to our Christmas wish list. We have had additional people ask how they can help so we expanded our list (and included some fun items 😊)!!! To recap, these extra bags will be hand delivered to the families for Christmas break. If you are interested in helping, please comment below with the item and quantity you wish to purchase.

*Do not feel obligated to purchase the full quantity. We will adjust the list as donations are made.

As always, we thank you! -Trista & Becca

24 boxes of poptarts (Purchased- Brian)

24 boxes of Christmas Little Debbie snack cakes (Purchased- Deb)

41 cans of Spaghetti-O’s (Purchased- Elora)

24 potato pouches (12 Purchased- Dawn)

41 cans of beef stew OR chicken and dumplings

24 boxes of Cheez-it (or similar)

24 packages of juice boxes

24 cans of Pringles (Purchased- Darla)

11/27/2018

Happy Giving Tuesday! Would you like to give locally and help Blessings in a Backpack families? We are gearing up for the special Christmas bags that we will hand deliver for the long Christmas break. The bags we sent home last year were plentiful and much appreciated by the families. Here is our wish list:

24 jars of peanut butter (Purchased-teachers)
24 jars of jelly (Purchased- John and Todd)
24 loaves of bread (Purchased- Pam)
48 boxes of cereal (Purchased- Whitney)
48 boxes of mac-n-cheese (Purchased - Meghan)
24 boxes of pasta (Purchased- Kathy)
24 jars of pasta sauce (Purchased- Barb)
48 cans of chili (24 Purchased-Deanna/24 Purchased- Alli)
24 boxes of saltines (12 Purchased-Deanna and 12 Purchased- John)
24 cans of fruit (Purchased- Lacey)
24 cans of vegetables (Purchased- Heather)
24 boxes of poptarts (Purchased- Stephanie)

We currently have 24 families with 41 students total. If you wish to give, PLEASE comment below which item and the quantity you wish to donate. You can also directly message me or Becca. This is important so we can keep the wish list updated.

As always, THANK YOU!

Address

Bunker Hill, IL

Telephone

+16185209594

Website

http://www.blessingsinabackpack.org/

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