4th and 5th graders from the Kennebunkport Consolidated School Go Running Our Way (G.R.O.W.), a co-ed running program that promotes fitness and healthy habits while building confidence and positivity through group discussions and activities, are helping to eliminate hunger in their school district. The team raised $374 by collecting spare change to help support the Food for Thought Backpack Program, a locally run service that provides weekend meals for food-insecure students in the RSU21 school district.
Jennifer Gallo, a local resident who volunteered her time this spring at Kennebunkport Consolidated School, led this running program for 4th and 5th grade students. Her enthusiasm to volunteer and help train and mentor students to care for one another’s needs beginning right within their own school district is indicative of the kind of community we have here in the Kennebunks. Children going home over the weekend and coming back to school on Monday hungry is a real problem. Local business owners and leaders are passionate about doing something to help and have been raising money for nearly a year to start and fund the Backpack Program; but when the students step up to make a difference, it is worth noting. Would you join these students and support the Food For Thought Backpack Program goal of raising $20,000? It costs $250 per child to supply food on the weekends for one child for the school year. You can donate online here at the Community Outreach Services website or send your check payable to “COS” with a memo of Backpack Program. COS is a 501(c)3 organization servicing the emergency needs of Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Arundel for nearly 25 years.
COS
PO Box 1175
Kennebunk, ME 04043