The Back-to-School Project continues to grow each year. In 2009, SSCS assisted 586 students with school supplies, a backpack, and one outfit to start school. Each year the number of students seeking assistance increases. The free and reduced lunch program is a good indicator of the potential need for assistance for low-income families who may need help with school supplies. Over 65.5% of the students in Sand Springs Schools qualify for free or reduced lunches. Well over 3,000 students qualify for free lunch. We believe the Back to School Project has tremendous potential for growth. Additional funding would be necessary to meet such an extensive need.
The funding for this program is made possible by Wal-Mart, community grants, and Williams Foundation, in-kind donations, area churches, and contributions from the community. The program has been supplemented by our current funds because of the extensive needs.
The Back-to-School Project has been a very successful program and continues to grow each year. The program helped 420 students in 2005, 512 in 2006, and increased to 573 students in 2007, 550 in 2008 and 586 in 2009.
SSCS works very closely with Sand Springs Public Schools, Wal-Mart, community organizations and civic clubs. This project pulls the people of the community together. There are many volunteers and civic leaders that participate as well as educators and administrators. It is a great program for the children of Sand Springs and serves a very worthy cause.
Because of the volume of people that need to be served, volunteers are vital to keep the project running smoothly. We work with Board volunteers, community volunteers, teachers, the superintendent of schools, and others, compiling over 150 volunteer hours to pull off this project.
Sand Springs Public Schools has 65.5% of students that qualify for the free and reduced lunch program for low-income families. Many of these children depend on the school to provide breakfast and lunch during the school week but go without necessary nutrition they need on the weekend. This program is designed to provide food for the children who are in greatest need. A comprehensive study on hunger in the
Administrators and teachers are actively engaged in the process of identifying the children in their building who go chronically hungry on the weekend. There are 69 students at three difference school sites currently being served through SSCS. Every Friday at school, each identified child will receive pre-packaged food from the agency in their backpack as provisions for the weekend. This program is supported locally and still needs stable funding streams to serve these at risk children.