One of our Just Congregations partners, Wheatley Education Campus, needs help beyond its classrooms. Every week two temple members volunteer as teachers’ aides in the classrooms and another member collaborates with Wheatley’s principal and staff on other ways the temple community can help the Wheatley community. One of the school’s teachers suggested a weekend food backpack program to help feed the students. Nearly 100% of Wheatley’s students received free and reduced lunches and breakfasts five days a week. They are hungry and their families struggle to put food on the table. The teacher identified a need: when there’s no school there may not be full meals for these kids. She suggested a “back pack” filled with food for the student to take home on Friday in order to have enough to eat over the weekend.
The volunteer team did not want to wait. They adopted a successful model from another school district, went to Costco to purchase enough food for 50 kids for this weekend, got reusable bags donated by Chevy Chase Supermarket and Whole Foods and had our Noar students fill the bags on Tuesday night. Barbara, the Wheatley teacher who suggested the program, took the bags with her and they will be distributed this Friday. This is just a first step. More than 50 kids need food but there are challenges with storage space, transportation, distribution, food purchasing and more. Our volunteer team already knew that they didn’t need to “reinvent the wheel.” So…
On Monday, I joined the three Wheatley volunteers (Joan Goldwasser, Darren Gersh and Elizabeth Roos) at the Capital Area Food Bank to learn about the Food Bank and its Partnership Program. The Food Bank runs its own backpack food program and serves 2,000 students across Washington, D.C. already. The Food Bank also creates partnerships with agencies like us. They provide the food at low cost and we provide the distribution program and services. The Food Bank is an incredible place and its new facility in Northeast D.C. is impressive. Most impressive, however, is the need to alleviate hunger in D.C. and the steps the Food Bank is taking to address that rising need. They currently have 700 partners who distribute food around the area. They want to double that number. We are completing our application to make the Wheatley Back Pack Food program the newest Food Bank partner. But we need help. Our current volunteers are already tasked with full teaching assistant days at Wheatley. What would it take for you to put this on YOUR calendar? Contact me, Rabbi Oleon or Darren Gersh (Darrengersh@gmail.com) if you will help.
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