Backpack blessings begin for second school year

For Mary Catherine Sexton, discovering how many local children were going hungry when they were not at school was heartbreaking.

That’s why the St. Simons Island resident, with the support of a group of friends, decided to do something about it.

“I started (Blessings in a Backpack) after learning how many children in our area are on the federal free and reduced meal plan at school,” Sexton said. “I knew they were receiving meals at school, but it broke my heart to think about what happens over the weekends. I knew that many of these children were receiving little or no food while at home. Teachers told me that they were seeing child after child walk into the classrooms on Monday mornings that were sick and exhausted from a weekend with no food.”

Sexton discovered through the program that it costs only $100 to feed one child for the entire school year. So she and her group set about raising money, something they have been able to do over the course of their first year. And through that, they’ve made a substantial impact.