Corbin Community Backpack Program continues work to eliminate food insecurity

“We are here to help the community, especially the children who are in need of food.”

That is what Doris Moore said of the effort that she and her fellow volunteers with the Corbin Community Backpack Program put forth every week in order to get food into the hands of school aged children in Whitley and Knox counties.

“We are a 501(c)(3) organization,” said Moore, who has served as chairperson for the local Backpack Program since its inception 19 years ago. “We work through the school systems to provide a bag of weekend food for children who are dealing with food insecurity in the home.”

Moore said that the Corbin Community Backpack Program is currently serving students in pre-school all the way through high school in Corbin, Whitley County, and most of Knox County. She said that each individual school in the coverage area will identify the students who qualify for free food via a screening process, and that, as of this report, it takes about 1,000 bags of food per week to ensure that these kids are not going hungry.

As you might imagine, such an undertaking requires a lot of manpower and resources. The Backpack Program is fortunate to receive help each week from student volunteers at the University of the Cumberlands, but the behind-the-scenes work to make these bags of food possible is getting more difficult all the time.

“We need more volunteers on our board who are willing to work for the cause, and make sure that this program continues,” said Sherry Paul, who is the Director of the Family Resource Center at Whitley North Elementary School and serves as vice chairperson for the Backpack Program. “Food insecurity is a real problem, so it brings us a lot of joy when we can provide children with food to help eliminate their hunger for the weekend.”

In addition to more volunteers who would be willing to serve on the board, Backpack Program Financial Officer Janie Akins also stressed the need for more monetary donations.

During the latest regular meeting of the Backpack Program, Akins, Moore, Paul and their fellow board members determined that the total cost for food distributed during the 2021-22 school year was approximately $45,000.

Those costs continue to increase as time goes on, making it imperative that the program receive additional support from the surrounding community if it hopes to continue its charity work into the future.

Anyone with bulk food items available who would be willing to donate those items, or sell them to the Corbin Community Backpack Program at a discounted rate, should contact the Family Resource Center at their local participating school.

Anyone who would like to make a monetary donation to the program, or receive information about how to potentially serve as a board member, should also reach out to their local Family Resource Center.