by Heather Diddel

I have talked with some of you about the stunning  realization one of my friends had a while back about the amount of hunger right in our little upstate community.  She was going to a meeting  at a school in Schenectady ( but it could easily have been Albany or elsewhere),  at the end of the school day,  and was confronted by wailing children getting on to school buses. She figured there must have been some terrible tragedy but was told by the principal that the kids were crying because they were about to go on vacation for a week. For so many of the kids, the only food they get is at school. A week of vacation means a week of going hungry.

Our local food bank started a backpack program, sending kids off with backpacks of food at the start of vacations. The effort is about to expand beginning next week:  every weekend , 700 of the kids perceived to be most in  need in the Schenectady school system will be sent off with a backpack of food. ( I don’t know how they figure that out.)  What’s really exciting about this is the team of people and organizations that have come together to make this happen on a weekly basis rather than just for the holidays.

We know there are more than 700 kids whose lives can be changed by backpacks of food , whether in Schenectady, Albany, the surrounding towns and villages, Vermont towns, Colorado cities and towns, you name it. Wouldn’t it be cool if this backpack idea took off in more and  more communities, along with other ideas to enable families to be fed and to feed themselves and others on an ongoing basis? As many of you know, my dream for  the planet is this:  a world where all children are held in loving arms, with a roof over their heads, beds to sleep in,  good food to eat and clean water to drink, and lives of peace.  A planet  where all of us are united on one team, playing full  out, respecting and nurturing all beings,  together.

It is so touching  to see this dream unfolding in all kinds of different ways, through different people, organizations. With the same goal. Next week, the dream unfolds in the form of backpacks with food for 700 kids. This effort flows into other beautiful work done by the Regional Food Bank,  Community Gardens and other groups finding ways to bring good food and sustainability to  different corners of the community.  Exciting to think about what else is possible and what else will grow from this…. It all starts with one idea.  The need is great, the ideas much needed. Do you have any thoughts, dreams or ideas that could be part of making a difference in feeding  the people and the planet? Come share and let’s see what else we can make happen—

Heather

Please join us at a press conference to kick off the

Weekend Backpack Program

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Pleasant Valley Elementary School
1097 Forest Rd., Schenectady, NY

9:00 am Photo Op • 9:30 am Press Conference

We will have a photo opportunity 30 minutes prior to the press conference featuring local business leaders and dignitaries assembling backpacks.

Here’s a pdf flyer with information about the program and the upcoming meeting