Because hunger doesn't stop on the weekend.......
Did you know that there are currently 1,500 school-age children in the Lake Orion community on the free / reduced lunch program and therefore at risk of weekend food insecurity?
But we, the Lake Orion community, can do something about this!
Blessings in a Backpack is a national organization that is currently in 42 states including Michigan.
Blessings in a Backpack-Lake Orion is a committee of parents, local business owners, community members and educators operating in partnership with the national Blessings in a Backpack organization, and Meijer to provide at risk students with a backpack containing six nutritious meals to feed them over the weekend.
But we, the Lake Orion community, can do something about this!
Blessings in a Backpack is a national organization that is currently in 42 states including Michigan.
Blessings in a Backpack-Lake Orion is a committee of parents, local business owners, community members and educators operating in partnership with the national Blessings in a Backpack organization, and Meijer to provide at risk students with a backpack containing six nutritious meals to feed them over the weekend.
$100 will provide a backpack and food to one child each weekend for an entire school year!
We are reaching out to all members of the Orion Community - parents, local businesses, community members. You can help in so many ways - volunteering your time (a lot of backpacks will need to be packed!), fundraising, donating resources, helping with transportation, monetary donations to name but a few.
The Blessings program only runs through the school year. Therefore we have delivered our last backpacks for the 2013-2014 school year. We will start packing and distributing backpacks again in the fall for school year 2014 - 2015. Thank you to all who helped make the 2013/14 year such a success! Who would have thought we would have all seven elementary schools plus one middle school in the program in the space of a year! As of year end we were sending 225 backpacks home with students!
Latest News
April 4th: Oakview Middle School was added to the Blessings in a Backpack-Lake Orion program! Due to our recent, amazingly successful fund raisers, we are able to bring the first of the Lake Orion middle schools into the program earlier than scheduled!
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March 21st: The Blessings in a Backpack Fashion Show was a great success with over $6,000 raised to benefit Blessings in a Backpack - Lake Orion! Huge thanks go to Carey Grund and her team for organizing and putting on an amazing show.
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March 2014: A fantastically successful Penny Wars run in the seven Lake Orion elementary schools plus the Goddard School of Lake Orion raised over $15,000 for Blessings in a Backpack - Lake Orion! Thank you to all the families, schools and Committee members who made this possible! The winner of the 2014 Penny Wars Trophy was Carpenter Elementary!
Wednesday, February 5th: Today we packed backpacks for all seven Lake Orion Community elementary schools! Blanche Sims, Pine Tree, Paint Creek and Carpenter are already in the program. Webber, Stadium and Orion Oaks joined today! It is thanks to the amazing, fantastic support of the Lake Orion community what we have been able to bring all seven elementary schools into the program within 12 months of starting up this wonderful program in Lake Orion!
Friday, January 10th: We packed the first backpacks for Carpenter Elementary today! Welcome to the program Carpenter!
Monday, December 2nd: The remaining LOCS elementary schools - Webber, Orion Oaks and Stadium - will be joining the Lake Orion Blessings program in February 2014! That will be all seven LOCS elementary schools in the program within 12 months of starting the program here in Lake Orion!
Saturday, November 2nd: A hugely successful Trivia Night raised $12,000 - all of which will go towards the Lake Orion Blessings program! This will allow us to bring at least one more school into the program!
Friday, October 4th: Paint Creek students received their first backpacks today! Yeah! We now have three schools up and running in the program - with a fourth (Carpenter Elementary) due to be added in January 2014!
27th September: We are excited to announce that we will be bringing Carpenter Elementary into the Blessings in a Backpack - Lake Orion program in January 2014! This will be our fourth school into the program since we started fundraising at the beginning of 2013.
9th September: Look out for our information tables at the LOCS school Curriculum Nights over the next two weeks. You can learn more about our organisation and find out how you can help. Or you can just stop by and say "Hi"!
26th August: We are very excited to announce that Paint Creek Elementary will be coming into the Blessings in a Backpack - Lake Orion program in the Fall! Watch out too for details soon re fundraising as we look to add other schools to the program later in the school year!
22nd August: Just finished taping a segment of Street Beat about our Blessings in a Backpack program. Watch for it to air on Sunday September 1st. — at CBS Television Stations.
21st August: As we get organized for another school year, we were delighted to receive a check from our financial sponsors, the North Woodward Community Foundation! Kellie McDonald, co-chair of Blessings in a Backpack Lake Orion accepted the check on our behalf. Thank You North Woodward!
24th April: Members of the Lake Orion High School Key Club packed the backpacks for us today! Thanks guys (and girls)!
If you would like to help with packing, go to the Volunteers page!
If you would like to help with packing, go to the Volunteers page!
12th April: Blanche Sims students are excited to be going home with their first backpacks! This is what makes it all so worthwhile!
Now that Blanche Sims Elementary and Pine Tree Elementary are up and running, it's time to raise more funds to bring another school into the program!
Now that Blanche Sims Elementary and Pine Tree Elementary are up and running, it's time to raise more funds to bring another school into the program!
10th April: We were very excited to have our first backpack packing on April 10th! Almost 50 backpacks were packed for distribution to students in Blanche Sims Elementary and Pine Tree Elementary. Transportation manager Dave Tucker and "Pack Master" Scott Ockerman along with Inventory chairperson Mary Jo Burchart did an excellent job of getting the food to our storage and packing center and setting everything up for a smooth first pack!
