LOUISVILLE, Ky. — FIRST PARAGRAPHGEORGETOWN, Ky. — Volunteers in Scott County are making sure children have plenty of food to eat on the weekend.
Steven Budde, the chief operations officer for Amen House, said, “This is part of the AMEN House Food Program. We identify children that are in need and then we make the bags for them so they can be distributed on the weekend.”
Inside the Amen House Thrift store in Georgetown, volunteers work diligently in a tiny backroom to pack bags of food that will be distributed to children throughout Scott County as part of the Weekend Backpack Meals Program.
Volunteer Rosemary Rugsaken said, “Just to be able to be a part of that and be able to help, in some way, provide for them. I mean, it’s not much, but it just makes me feel good to be able to know that we’re providing food for hungry children.”
Volunteers put together more bags than many people realize. Budde told Spectrum News 1, “We’re making 221 bags each week. So that tells you the number of kids that we’re currently serving in the area that need food, particularly on the weekends.”
Because hunger does not take the weekend off, it is important for The Amen House to see what they can do to assist children in need of food. After surveying all the Family Resource Centers in the county, several requested help with this critical program that ensures our children have food to eat on the weekends.
Budde added, “The kids get food through their school systems during the week, but on the weekends we’re concerned that they may not be getting all the nutrition that they need. So, we’re filling the gap by making bags for six different schools in the Scott County area that have kids that we have identified that have needs for nutritional food on the weekends.”
Until these volunteers can ensure that no child will go hungry on weekend, backpack meals will continue to be served. One bag at a time. It’s an experience Rugsaken wouldn’t trade for the world.
She said, “The staff and everybody around here is just so great, and they have such a heart for what they do, and I’m just honored to be a part of it.”