Feeding Local Children

Over forty-five percent of students in northeast Tennessee are a part of the government’s free and reduced lunch program. Many of these children receive little or no food outside of school.Through a partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank, Hale Community Ministries helps to alleviate the problem by providing weekend food for children in Carter County. Each package of food is packed at Second Harvest and brought to Hale. A package provides two weekends of food for each child in the program. One of Hale’s biggest struggles with the program however is funding, especially for the small Range Elementary School. The backpack program is incredibly important to the students and faculty of Range as the school has a high number of students who live in poverty. Over 97% of their students have free or reduced lunch. Hale Community Ministries has enough money for Range for this year, but they need a sponsor for next year. The cost is $93 per child for a total of $3,069 for Range's thirty-three children in the program. If you would like to sponsor or donate, contact Hale Community Ministries at 423-547-2560.