The Situation:
There are many elementary schools located in both the Michiana and Northeast Indiana areas the have a large number of students who receive free and reduced lunches. Some schools with as high a percentage as 95% of the student body. For many of these children, the only regular healthy meals they receive is from their school. There are many reasons for this but the reality is that kids shouldn't suffer because their parents are, at best, inconsistent with care they provide for their own children. As of the 2008/2009 school year the Food for Kids Back Pack program served just 200 elementary school kids in the South Bend / Elkhart area and 170 elementary school kids in the Fort Wayne area. The program is funded through donations to the Food Bank of Northern Indiana in South Bend and the Community Harvest Food Bank of Fort Wayne. The cost for the program varies by market. In Michiana it costs $100 to fund a child for the year. In Northeast Indiana it costs $260 per child per year. The reason for the increase cost in Northeast Indiana has to do with transportation and the means that the Food Bank has to go to get the back pack into the children's hands. Both food banks see a substantial need to increase the program but awareness and funding have been major hurdles to overcome.
What we are doing:
Federated Media Engaged launched advertising campaigns in support of the programs in Michiana and Northeast Indiana. So far the combined efforts of the fourteen radio stations in these markets and the Elkhart Truth newspaper have run a total of $350,000 worth of inkind advertising for the programs.
Results In Michiana To Date:
* The biggest new contributor to the program is the Jordan Automotive Group who not only raised an additional $25,000 for the program, but also volunteered empolyee time each week to pack and deliver the backpacks to new schools that they adopted.
* a local church group is donating another $5,000 to the program
* Adam Weber, a 19 year old college student, ran a 50 mile marathon in 24 hours to raise money and awareness for the program. He collected another $2,000 in donations
* online and mailed donations to the Food Bank specifically for this program have gone from nothing to over $6,000
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Results In Northeast Indiana To Date:
* a $10,000 check was received by the food bank for the program
* online donations to the Food Bank specifically for this program have gone from nothing to over $2,000
* additional checks in the door have raised another $6,000