PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
FUNDING TO FEED CHILDREN … Incoming 2nd Vice Commander Lisa Wilson of Swanton American Legion Murbach-Siefert Post #479 hands a $5,000 check to Backpack Buddies Program volunteer and fourth grade math and science teacher Christine Elliott for the program, which provides food to students in Swanton schools who may not have access to food after school lunches over the weekend. Pictured are (from left): Pastor Rick Maynhart, Swanton Village Council member and Post Commander John Schmidt, incoming Post Commander Ron Wilson, Lisa Wilson, Christine Elliot, program volunteer Stephanie Fessenden, program volunteer and co-founder Lou Luce, and Swanton Village Council member and program volunteer Pat Pilliod.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
A program created to help feed students who have limited access to food outside of school-provided meals just got a major boost from a local veterans organization.
During a special ceremony Tuesday, a $5,000 check from the Swanton American Legion Murbach-Siefert Post 479 was presented to representatives of Swanton’s Backpack Buddies Program.
Through the program, which was given its seed money by the local Rotary, participating students receive a backpack full of food each week to bridge the gap between lunch at school on Friday and returning on Monday.
It was started in 2011 by a group including the principal, school nurse, and teachers who were seeing more absences, headaches, and students not able to pay attention in class.
“It’s tough to pay attention when you’re a little kid and your belly’s rumbling,” program volunteer and fourth-grade math and science teacher Christine Elliott said.
National Honor Society students distribute the bags, which include no obviously identifying markers, only an ID number and a number indicating the number of students for whom the food is destined.
There are currently 83 participants, up from 77 just two weeks earlier. Elliott said the Legion’s donation means “an awful lot.”
“We have shoppers, myself included, that will scour the area for the cheapest price on boxes of cereal. We try to stretch the dollar,” she said.
“So now, maybe, with a little bit of wiggle room and a little bit of extra money, we can provide something like bagels – because they don’t get smashed as easy as a loaf of bread would. Maybe some fresh fruit or some vegetables.”
Elliott said the donation left her speechless, and that her head was swirling with things they may now be able to do.
“I want the community to know how much we appreciate it and how much even people outside of our community, they’ve opened up their hearts, they’ve opened up their pocketbooks to give us the money,” Elliott said.
“This is not a one-person show. I could not do this by myself. It’s a team of teachers, it’s a team of retirees, its community members, it’s everybody communicating and coming together for the better good.”
Second Vice Commander Lisa Wilson said the Legion raises money through several different events and maintains a charity account to donate to nonprofit organizations, and that she heard of the program through television and social media.
“So I brought it to the next meeting and said ‘Hey, I think this is a worthy cause and we should get involved,’” Wilson said.
A unanimous vote later, the check was written. The donation came on the heels of the group’s most successful annual Name That Tune fundraiser yet.
The fundraiser has been held 14 out of the last 15 years – with a one-year break during COVID-19 – with 197 attendees. The event usually draws between 120 and 140 people.