ROCKLAND — In two Rockland schools alone, 409 school children receive free or reduced lunches during the school day. This number represents a statistic that nearly half of all Knox County children struggle with food insecurity. For a lot of them, the two days between Friday lunch and Monday breakfast means for a long, long weekend.

In response, Area Interfaith Outreach has developed the Weekend Backpack Program to send 200 Rockland students home each weekend of the academic year with two days of nutritious breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks, as well as ingredients for one meal for the whole family.    

A report by the Maine Department of Education stated that 59 percent of children in RSU 13 (Cushing, Owls Head, Rockland, Thomaston and South Thomaston) qualifiy for free and reduced lunches in 2015.

Therefore, in this inaugural year of the backpack program, the AIO will start with the students of these two schools. The AIO anticipates serving other schools in the future.

Each month, AIO volunteers will pick up pallets of backpack food from the Good Shepherd Food Bank at a central location, and deliver it for storage at Nativity Lutheran Church. Bags will be packed on Thursdays and driven to the two schools each Friday, according to the Backpack Program website.    

On Friday afternoons, while students are away from the classroom, their teachers will discreetly distribute the weekend food to the students’ backpacks.

The cost of providing a weekend backpack for one student during the academic year is $225. Therefore, in order to help cover the $45,000 endeavor, AIO has set up milk jug donation receptacles in area retail and convenience stores, as well as restaurants. Individuals and organizations wanting to donate larger amounts are welcome to do so as well.

According to the website, no more than 200 students will be allowed in the program this year. Unless a student moves or drops out of the program, enrollment is closed.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com.