FELICITY, Ohio — Felicity-Franklin Local School District has partnered with the nonprofit Empower Youth to send free bags of food home with students before weekends and extended school breaks, the district said in a Facebook post.
Any Felicity-Franklin student can take part, according to the district, which said there are no income requirements and no questions asked. Families interested in the program can sign up by scanning a QR code to complete a short enrollment form.
Food bags are distributed on the last school day before a weekend or extended break, typically Thursday or Friday, the district said.
Empower Youth is a Bethel-based nonprofit founded in 2015 by Scott and Lori Conley after Lori, then serving as a children’s minister at a local church, encountered a family living in a cellar apartment, according to the organization’s website. The couple went on to build a standalone nonprofit focused on supporting children facing poverty in Clermont County and the surrounding region.
The weekend food initiative, which Empower Youth calls its Weekend Power Packs program, now serves eight school systems in southern Ohio, including Felicity-Franklin, Bethel-Tate, Batavia, Grant Career Center, Amelia Elementary, Eastern Brown, Fayetteville-Perry and Lynchburg-Clay, according to the nonprofit. Empower Youth said it distributes more than 1,250 food packs a month during the school year, at a cost of about $17,600 a month, including roughly $1,800 a month for milk alone.
Each pack includes shelf-stable, ready-to-eat items such as canned pasta, tuna, ramen noodles, microwavable macaroni and cheese, granola bars, instant oatmeal and fruit pouches, Empower Youth said, noting the program now collects only peanut-free donations.
Residents who want to support the program can also scan a QR code to donate through PayPal or Venmo, the district said. The weekend food program is sponsored and funded entirely by Empower Youth.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Felicity-Franklin Local School District’s Facebook page and Empower Youth.