We provide food for each weekend for those students that are enrolled in the Free and Reduced-Price School Meals Program at Jackson Center Schools. With the donations that we receive from FISH, Airstream, Shelby County United Way and our local churches, we have been fortunate to provide this food for students since 2016.

This number has fluctuated over the years depending on the economy. This school year we are serving approximately 64 students, which is up from the 40 we served last year.

About every six weeks members from the various churches come together in the Jackson Center Methodist Fellowship Hall. We have the food put out on tables in which we pack grocery bags for each student. Those offerings include breakfast bars, cereal, pasta meals, ramen noodle meals and fruit cups. The grocery bags are packed into totes for each week and taken over to the school for distribution.

Over the years, the following churches have sent members to help pack and/or donate funds or food: Mount Taber United Methodist Church, Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Christ the King Church, Saint Lawrence Catholic Church, Maplewood Methodist Church, Only Believe Church and Jackson Center Methodist Church.

We fund the program by applying for grants through the Shelby County United Way and from donations received from FISH of Shelby County, Airstream, Inc. and donations from our local churches. We are very grateful for all donations that are received to support our mission of not letting any child go hungry. Last year our grants and donations totaled $6,324 and our expenses totaled $8,431 leaving us with a net loss of $2,107.