Editor’s note: This is the fourth of four stories in our Neighbors Helping Neighbors series. The series calls attention to little-known causes that change lives in our community — and how you can help.

POULSBO — North Kitsap’s local food banks ensure no child goes hungry with Food to Grow On and Food for Thought, support programs that provide weekend take-home food for children that otherwise might go hungry.

The programs, by Kingston ShareNet and North Kitsap Fishline, respectively, ensure almost 300 children have access to food, any day of the week.

In Fishline’s Food for Thought weekend backpack program, children who may not otherwise receive enough food when not in school are provided a pack containing enough food for six meals over the weekend (plus snacks). Children pick up their packs at school Friday afternoons during the school year.

“We started Food for Thought in 2009 in response to the school system’s needs,” Fishline executive director Mary Nader said. “Although not everyone has access to adequate nutrition, Fishline is doing its part to change that.”

Nader said between 150 to 170 children from low-income families receive meals.

“We’re now at the peak of the program. By February, we should have a full registration,” she said.

Those children who take part in the program are identified by school counselors and staff.

Nader said, “They are trained to spot those who show food insecurities and identify that child who might be vulnerable.”

Volunteers then shop for items, pack bags, and drop them off for the children.

“That keeps them sustained over the weekend,” she said.

Fishline’s program covers students in schools in Poulsbo, Keyport, and Suquamish, including Chief Kitsap Academy.

Nader said basic items in the packs stay the same, however, some items may change depending on availability.

“We like to add fresh fruit to bags if we have it,” Nader said.

Nader said that although the program continues during summer, only about one-third of students that could participate take advantage of it.

“We are increasing outreach,” Nader said. “We don’t aggressively market the program, but we look forward to (growing) … Wherever we can, we put a focus on funding Food for Thought.”

Nader also encourages residents to consider Backpack Friends, an alternate program of Food for Thought in which people may sponsor a child.

“For $100 per semester or $250 for the whole year, you can ensure that [a] child is taken care of,” she said. “It allows that person to have a more personal relationship with that child. Although they might not ever get to meet them, they can feel like they are more connected.”

ShareNet’s Food to Grow On meets children’s food needs in Kingston.

The program started four or five years ago and, executive director Mark Ince said, “We hit our high-water mark of 100 kids in the spring of the 2014-15 school year. We expect to hit that or more this coming spring.”

Ince said the numbers increase throughout the school year; counselors and staff begin to identify students with food insecurities beginning in fall.

He said, “Those new kids or kids with no history is the reason for the ramp up.

“Really, with all schools, the staff are involved with identification — from behavior issues in the classrooms, to the front office staff who help receive and distribute to the students.”

Not all food is packed in a backpack, Ince said. “That’s a catch-all phrase to cover it.”

Food to Grow On packs meals in Ziplock bags, explaining it is up to the child to pack them home however they wish.

“We can’t control if the kids take their meals home for the weekends, eat them at school, or share items with their friends on the bus,” Ince said.

But the program can control how the children are taken care of.

“There used to be a lot of shame associated with receiving food,” Ince explained. “But we understand a lot of that shame has been removed in recent years. Now, some kids won’t even put their meals in their backpacks.”

When asked about the future, Ince said, “We are working on it as we speak. It’s a cooperative effort with many different entities — Kingston Kiwanis, Kingston Kares and Kingston Rotary — but for this two-week holiday break we are serving kids in a much larger way …”

Ince said that over the two-week holiday break, Food to Grow On is providing a giant box of take-home food for each child. Each box will contain enough food to feed each child for a week. ShareNet and volunteers are dropping off boxes at specific drop sites — one box per child per week.

When asked about the menu, Ince said the program has certain standards. Packed meals need to be easily portable, readily available, quality sourced and something kids will actually eat.

“It’s a bigger problem than you might think,” Ince said. “We need to source something that has uniformity. There is actually a lot that goes into it.”

A bag of baby carrots, for example, can be bought in bulk and then portioned out after. However, a bulk jar of applesauce is more complicated.

“Individual items, like that individual jar of applesauce, isn’t cheap and they are rarely on sale,” he said.

Food to Grow On, unlike other national programs of its nature, provide a fresh fruit or vegetable in each pre-packed lunch as part of its standards.

“The most typical are either carrots, apples or oranges,” he said.

But as the bags are continued to be packed each week, the price goes up. “They are about $7 per bag,” Ince said.

“That’s per week, per 100 kids, every week of the school year … This is a very expensive program,” he said.

But, Ince added, “We never put a cap on the program. We have to hope the day never comes that we don’t have enough support, but hypothetically it could happen …”

“There is a lot of gratitude in the community from those people who receive. It really does have an impact on their lives … When you’re on that borderline of food insecurity, or even over that line, even that amount of food makes a difference.”

Ince said the problem of hunger will always be present in our communities. “But we’re happy to have some effect on this problem,” he said.

HOW YOU CAN HELP: Ince and Nader encourage people to donate for a child in need. Go to www.nkfishline.org or www.sharenetfoodbank.org.

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