HEWITT, Texas (KXXV) — "For our boxes, maybe we were sending anywhere between 80 and 100 — we're doing about 150 to 160. So definitely - the need has increased,” said Midway ISD Director of Support Services, Anne-Marie Zellers.
Midway ISD’s Hunger Free Program serves families in need throughout the school year — they pack bags of food to send home with students every weekend, and for holiday breaks.
"That's just to help families get through that extended time away from those meals that they, the students, would get during the week at school,” Zellers said.
Zellers tells 25 News she's seen a significant increase in the number of families they serve.
“It definitely has increased, so we started probably about six years ago, where we were sending home about 150 bags of food a week," Zellers said.
"We're at about 350 plus bags a week now."
Zellers says it requires a team of volunteers around the community to successfully pull this off.
“It takes about 70,000 a year to run our Hunger Free Program, so we really rely heavily on our community support and our campus support,” she said.
The program is supported through on campus fundraisers and donations from community members.
Volunteers will sort, pack and organize food boxes for each family.
"Then our church partners help deliver the foods to the family, so we have anywhere from 10 to 15 churches that will come and pick up boxes and deliver them the next couple days,” Zellers said.
Along with food, the district provides a list of helpful resources for families, including utility and rental assistance.
