Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
The United Way of Anderson County is expanding its Weekend Snack Pack program to cover the winter school break, preparing food for nearly 1,100 children who might otherwise go without.
The nonprofit's regular program serves almost 900 children each weekend during the school year. Volunteers identify students with household food insecurity, working through school counselors in all five Anderson County school districts, and distribute food each Friday so children have enough to eat over the weekend.
CEO Kevin Capell said the holiday expansion addresses a specific gap: children who normally receive snack packs at school would have no distribution during the extended winter break.
"While they will receive a snack pack at the normal distributions as they leave on a Friday and prior to the holidays, we realized we needed to enhance that in some way to meet a greater need," Capell said.
Capell said the program began after officials recognized that children returning from weekends without adequate food were arriving at school unprepared for the week.
"It took them longer to get back into the routine and be ready to learn," he said. "It impacted their scores, their ability overall, their life in school as well."
The snack packs are designed to help children begin each week prepared to learn, addressing both food insecurity and educational readiness.
Capell said the program fits within two of United Way's focus areas: youth opportunities and healthy communities.
The program is funded through workplace campaigns at organizations throughout Anderson County, as well as individual and private donors.
He singled out the Duke Energy Foundation for its support of the program during the holiday season and throughout the year.
Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina supplies and stores the food. Branch Manager Donald Dickens said his organization orders food, houses it and helps with distribution each quarter of the school year.
"It's just kind of this whole circle of life every quarter of the school year," Dickens said. "I love the fact that we are helping kids get through the weekend with them so they're ready to go Monday morning."
Voluteers are needed to pack snack packs monthly or twice monthly and to help with deliveries. Becky McDonald, the program's snack pack coordinator, can help arrange volunteer schedules.
Second Harvest offers three ways to support its broader food assistance efforts through food drives, volunteering and donations.
"I love the process," Dickens said.
Information about donations and volunteer opportunities is available at secondharvestmetrolina.org.
Dickens said demand for food assistance has increased since November, when changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program prompted many people to seek assistance for the first time.
Those new clients have continued to need help, he said, creating a higher baseline for the organization. Attendance at mobile food distributions across the five counties Second Harvest serves—Oconee, Pickens, Anderson, Greenwood and Abbeville—has also risen.
Second Harvest, located at its current Anderson facility since Jan. 1, 2020, works with more than 100 local agencies, including soup kitchens, emergency pantries and shelters.
The holiday snack pack distribution depends on continued donations and volunteer support, Capell said.
"It is not possible without that," he said.
