Weekend Snack Program

Meeting the food needs of Pickens County students. A hungry stomach has no ears!What is it?

The Weekend Snack Program works to ensure that students in the Pickens County School have sufficient food during their weekends away from school. During the school week, students have access to meals in the school cafeteria.

The program is a coalition of churches, non-profit organizations and individuals who are interested in meeting the food needs of these students. The program currently serves 255 children, but surprisingly, hopes that number goes down.

“This is one time when less numbers are better as when we grow our numbers it means that more children in our county still need food. We need to do everything we can to keep children in school so that the next generation will be better able to feed itself,”

said Fran Bishop, coordinator.

The program operates through CARES, a local non-profit for food, financial assistance and other programs aimed at meeting the needs of the citizens of Pickens County. The program is not funded by CARES and is self-supporting.

Food for the snack program is purchased through CARES, through the County School System Food Program and other discount sources. Food is also purchased at warehouse stores such as Sams Club and Aldi. Other food is purchased by individuals and/or donated by local churches and other organizations.

Why is it needed?

Over 50% of the students in the Pickens County Public School system qualify for either free or reduced meals. Some of these students only get sufficient food when they eat in the school cafeteria. Research has shown that students who are hungry have difficulty concentrating thus making it harder for those students to do well in class, on assignments and in taking standard tests.

How can you help?

Funds are needed to purchase food for the program. One time donations, occasional donations and regular donations are needed. A child can be adopted by donating $5.00 per week or $20.00 per month. Monetary contributions can be made directly to CARES, designated as weekend snack program and mailed to PO Box 1342, Jasper, GA 30143.

Food items that cannot be purchased through existing sources are needed. Food items can be donated weekly during the school year by dropping off at the Tate United Methodist Fellowship Hall on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. (except when Monday is a public holiday).

Volunteers are needed for the inventory, sorting and packing the snack bags and deliver to the schools.

Who can I contact?

For more information on the weekend snack program, please contact Fran Bishop, Volunteer Coordinator at 770-735-1434 or efrbishop@gmail.com.