Second Sacks
Second Sacks is an extension of Second Helpings of Angelina County. Second Sacks was launched in the fall of 2019 in order to put food directly into the hands of children.
More than 65% of Angelina County students are considered economically disadvantaged which is defined as “eligible for free or reduced-price lunch or other public assistance.” At Lufkin ISD, the largest school system in the county, more than 77% of students fall into that category. Second Sack volunteers have sought to ensure students have food to eat over the weekend.
The hope is that, as research shows, children with full tummies do better in school, stay in school and hopefully, through education, are able to break the cycle of poverty.
Our rotating volunteers meet each week and pack over 150 nutritious non-perishable food-filled sacks and load them into delivery bins. Each Friday that school is in session, Second Sacks’ corporate partner, Brookshire Brothers, delivers the bins to one of Angelina County’s most economically disadvantaged schools, Herty Primary, with 89% of its students eligible for free or public assistance. The school counselor distributes sacks to participating students.
FULL TUMMIES = GROWING MINDS
What’s in the Sack?
2 Cartons of Shelf Stable Milk 1 Can of Chef Boyardee 2 Single Serving Cereals 1 Mixed Fruit Cup 1 Beef Stick 1 Jif-to-Go Individual Serving Cup
1 Cheese/Cracker Package 1 Granola Bar 1 Nutri-Grain Bar 1 Applesauce Cup 1 Can of Vienna Sausage 1 Package of Sunflower Kernels
For too many children, school meals may be the only meals they eat. What happens when they go home over the weekend? Second Sacks seeks to address this problem by assembling sacks of nutritious, kid-friendly food and distributing them to children identified by school counselors as at-risk for food insecurity. When designing the program, the Second Sacks volunteers relied on guidelines from a study on non-perishable items that appeal to children prepared by student nutrition majors at Texas State University. Generally, the sack contains nonperishable, shelf-stable food items. Consideration is given to the weight of the bag, safety of the containers and utensils that will be needed in the preparation of the food. Containers with pull or pop-off lids and food that need little to no cooking are used in case the child is preparing her own food.
How We Do It
Package it.
Volunteer teams rotate each week to fill over 150 sacks and load into delivery bins.
Deliver it.
Brookshire Brothers loads and delivers the sacks to Herty Primary (Lufkin ISD) each Friday that school is in session.
Give it.
The school counselor distributes sacks to students designated as at-risk for food insecurity.
Start again.
Volunteers retrieve bins from Herty Primary each Monday and return to our warehouse for volunteer teams to repeat the schedule.
