For Lou Ann Scates, taking care of hungry children in the surrounding area is extremely important and always has been. “When my son was growing up and going to school, I saw kids in his class that I knew were going to bed hungry,” recalled Scates, Gardner-Webb registrar. “I could not imagine a little kid not having enough to eat.”
While discussing the problem with Susan Manahan, assistant professor of biology at Gardner-Webb, an idea was born—The Healthy Bulldog Backpack Program. Since that day about five years ago, the program has been providing underprivileged children from Springmore Elementary School in Boiling Springs, N.C., with healthy food delivered in backpacks every two weeks. “We went to Springmore and talked to the social worker, Mary Crotts, and she was all for it,” Scates explained. “We started out with 20 children, providing them with backpacks with 16 or so items.”
The program strives to provide a variety of food items that are healthy and filling. Scates share that children need a combination of protein and carbohydrates like mac and cheese, beans, peanut butter and soup. “Although we try to be as healthy as we can, every once in a while little children deserve a treat,” Scates offered with a smile.
She explained that Crotts now identifies which children should receive backpacks, and when a child qualifies they are immediately put onto the list. Presently, 36 children are receiving food. Crotts expressed to Scates that for these hungry children, receiving a backpack full of food is comparable to opening presents on Christmas.
Donations of individually packaged, non-perishable food items for the Healthy Bulldog Backpack Program may be brought to the GWU Registrar Office located in the Dover Campus Center on Gardner-Webb’s main campus. Office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and donations can be brought in any weekday. Cash donations are accepted, and volunteers are also needed.
Scates hopes to continue to grow the backpack program , but has the ultimate goal of feeding every hungry child in the surrounding area. For more information regarding the Healthy Bulldog Backpack Program, contact Scates at lscates@gardner-webb.edu.
