Lovepacs was born out of a shared desire to help children in our community. In November 2011, the four founding families were made aware of 6 kids at Camey Elementary in The Colony who were being sent home from school every Friday with a backpack of food because they were not getting enough to eat on the weekend. After talking to the school counselor, we found out many of these kids were going to be hungry over the Thanksgiving holiday when they were out of school for a week.
The thought of kids not eating touched the hearts of our families, and we began Lovepacs to try to fill in the gaps for these children over the holidays. Even though our first goal was to pack boxes for those 6 kids with enough food for the Thanksgiving holiday, we knew (due to demographic information) that the number of at-risk kids was much higher than six. Out of the 9 schools in The Colony, 4 of the 6 elementary schools and both middle schools are Title 1-meaning that at least 30% of the kids attending are on the free or reduced lunch program. Upon further research, we found out that many were living below the poverty level (73% at one school alone). With this information in front of us, we prayed for God to provide, created a Facebook page, and started spreading the word to people we knew.
Our prayers were answered in an overwhelming manner. The community generously donated enough to provide not just 6, but 46 boxes of food-each box feeding one child 2 meals and a snack each day for the 9-day break. Packing these boxes became a community affair, as neighbors came together and donated their time. When we contacted the schools to find out how many Lovepacs would be needed for Christmas, our number more than doubled to 100! By Spring Break, we had once again doubled our donations, and over 200 kids were fed with Lovepacs!
Our desire is that Lovepacs can come alongside the school counselors so that we can resource them, take care of physical needs for the kids, and allow them to do what they do best-without worrying about the basic survival of their students. We have challenged them to dream big and tell us what would serve them in their school. And we believe God is going to give us the resources and people to fulfill those dreams.
We couldn't do the work we do without tremendous support from donors and volunteers. Thank you!
Generously giving grace; glorifying God!
- Lovepacs Board of Directors
