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McCormick Backpack Ministry
McCormick Backpack Ministry
•Backpack Ministry
What Are​ We? •
Let No Child Go Hungry!​
This ministry provides weekend food for preschool and school aged children who have been id​entified by school personnel
as in need of nutritious weekend foods.
The number of children varies on a monthly basis,
based on family needs and people moving into or out of the area.
The identity of these children is kept confidential.
Welcome
to Our Site
McCormick Backpack welcomes you to browse our website and we always welcome questions, suggestions, and donations.
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Muscle Hut 5K Honoring Backpack Ministry
On Saturday, May 27, 2023 some of the members of the backpack ministry participated in the 5K put on by the Muscle Hut in Plum Branch. The proceeds from the 5K were donated to the Backpack Ministry. We were blessed to receive a check for $2,700 for the ministry. We also received a few other donations from groups there. What a great day. Thank you to all that participated and a big THANK YOU to Amber at the Muscle Hut in Plum Branch for the hard work and wonderful donation.
Donations Donations
Thank you to the SLV Green Curtain Theater Group for your generous donation to the Backpack! We appreciate all who support the Backpack program. We would like to say a special thank you to Kathy Essex for her generous donation and all who have given to this very needed cause. This includes our monthly donors and volunteers who contributed to feeding 140 children each week.
We would also like to thank Charlotte Talent and the McCormick Chamber of Commerce (www.mccormickchamberofcommerce.org)
for their continued support and the use of the conference room for our monthly board meetings. We are very fortunate to have a community that continues to grow and support each other.
Happy Holidays to All from the
McCormick County Backpack Ministry
Welcome New Board Members
We are happy to have two new board members Alonzo Harrison and Willie Mae Calhoun join us. We are excited for a new year of continued success with the Backpack Ministry. Welcome Alonzo and Willie Mae!
(Pictured above Alonzo in the blue shirt and Willie Mae in the red sweater)
Upcoming events for Backpack Ministry:
Board Meeting:
September 12, 2023 @ 2:30 pm with guests (Dr. Jaime Hembree, Mr. R.S. Brown, and Ms. Catharine Callaham) at 3:00 pm to discuss 2023 outlook and plans.
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Backpack Board Members
Roseanne Selby - Chair
Laverne Moss
Connie Tremsky
Janet Dukes
Ray DeShano
Becky Sappenfield
Arthur Banks
Catherine Callaham - School Liaison
School liaisons identify the needs of the children.
Volunteers pick up, pack, and deliver the foods to the schools.
Monetary donors help keep the ministry going.
"It would melt your heart to see how excited and proud these children are to receive their own food bag"
C. Callaham
A Special Thank You
A special thank you to this group who makes sure that the backpacks are delivered to the schools every week! We also want to thank the volunteers that pick up the food and pack it each week to get it ready for delivery! It takes dedication and hard work to pack the backpack bags and deliver them to the schools each week! You are a great group of people, we are blessed to have you all!
McCormick Christmas Parade
Backpack had 1st Place Float Again This Year!
It was a very wet day but the float was finally completed with the help of our volunteers and board members pitching in to put finishing touches on it! We appreciate all who participated and helped make it a success! All items for the float were donated by various people (including a special artist) who painted the beautiful characters for the sides!
Happy New Year 2022!
We are thankful for the past years donors, volunteers, board members, and all that have participated in the Backpack Ministry.
All marketing, brochures, and supplies are graciously donated to the backpack ministry. All monies go toward purchasing food for the children.
New carts donated for the volunteers!
Our volunteers now have 4 new carts to distribute the food to the students at the school and 1 new cart at the GLEAMS center to help load the van. We appreciate our volunteers and the great work that they do! These donated carts will be a great help to the volunteers delivering the food to the classrooms each week. A special thank you to all that made this possible.
We also thank Dr. Hembree for her continued support and her part is getting this done
An Educational Visit to the Schools
The Backpack Board Members were invited to follow the volunteers to see how the process works. The food is picked up at Food Lion on Monday or Tuesday mornings. It is then taken to the GLEAMS center to prepare for packing. Volunteers meet at the GLEAMS center on their scheduled day to separate and pack the food items then the bags are put in tubs for pick up. On Friday mornings the tubs are picked up from the GLEAMS center and taken to the school for distribution to the classrooms. This is a very well organized, planned and executed procedure which is discretely done to protect the students identity.
We are located at the McCormick GLEAMS Head Start Center
Grants and Donations
The board members and volunteers thank all who donate to the Backpack Ministry. This program is possible because of the donors and grants that are so generously given. The goal of the Backpack Ministry
"Let No Child Go Hungry"
Pictured is the backpack board members receiving a grant from Tim Haynes representing Blyth Funeral Home of Greenwood.
How Do We Function?
We only serve children who have been identified as being in need by school personnel in the McCormick First Steps, Elementary, Middle, High School and Head Start. Each child identified by the school will receive a bag of nutritious children-friendly food for the weekend.
The food bags are distributed weekly and will contain enough food to serve one child per weekend. These food bags are not intended to feed an entire family.
Our Cost:
Due to the requirements and standards that we must go by; we do not accept food donations. Only monetary donations.
It costs $6.00 per child per week. It takes approximately $30/month to feed each child. This cost does vary slightly but this is an average.
We average approximately 133 children each week.
Our yearly goal is $30,000.
We do not have paid employees, only volunteers.
Who Are We?
The McCormick County Backpack Ministry was incorporated in 2015
as a non-profit organization with a 501c tax-exempt status. We have no employees, only volunteers from various organizations and churches who pick up food, pack, load and deliver to the McCormick Schools and Head Start Programs. We have nine (9) Board Members.
Thank you to all of our volunteers that make this possible.
How Does The Program Work?
Each week volunteers pick up the foods from the local Food Lion. These foods are delivered to the GLEAMNS building to be sorted and bagged by our volunteers. The bags are delivered to the schools for distribution to the students in need.
