Every year, the Amarillo Area Foundation hosts the Panhandle Gives event that begins on the Monday before Thanksgiving and ends on Giving Tuesday, the global day of giving. This year the dates are November 25 through December 3.
During this event, local non-profit organizations are eligible to participate and all donations made to the organization through the Panhandle Gives campaign are amplified.
One of the many organizations participating in the event is Snack Pak 4 Kids of Pampa: a non-profit organization powered by volunteers whose mission is to provide nutrition to school-aged children who may not have access to meals during the weekend that they may receive during the week at school.
Snack Pak 4 Kids was started in 2010 in Amarillo, with the Pampa organization starting up just one year later despite being given a three-year life expectancy. Those who had their doubts highly underestimated the generosity and overall support of the folks in the Pampa community, and the program has continued to thrive more than 10 years later.
“What we do is we provide a sack of shelf-stable food that is given to the children,” SP4K Board Member Kayla Parnell said. “Some schools give them out on Thursdays, some on Fridays and it just helps to give them a little boost of snacks and food over the weekend if they may not have quite enough at home. They can get a good breakfast and lunch at school during the week, but some kids have difficulty on the weekend so we just provide a few snacks that don’t have to have any refrigeration or preparation. No matter what their age is, they can just pop it open and eat it that’s safe for them to have. It gives them a little bit of security in knowing that they’re not going to be hungry over the weekend.”
Parents are able to ask for help from the school, but the teachers and principals also look for signs that a child may be lacking nourishment that include fluctuating weight, lack of focus, and other insecurities that indicate hunger, and will contact the parents of the child to ask for permission to send food home.
As of right now, SP4K is only for the elementary schools, but if a child has siblings at home that are in middle school or are not in school just yet, then they are given extra bags per sibling.
Sacks are distributed to those children in the program discreetly, usually done while everyone is at lunch, P.E. or in another classroom.
Every other Monday night, volunteers ranging from high school students to volunteers from other organizations come together and pack each sack with an assembly line-like technique, knocking out nearly 200 sacks in less than 30 minutes.
“In 20 minutes, we can knock out hundreds of sacks and be done and have fun doing it,” Kayla said. “It’s been something special for all ages.”
This will be the third year SP4K Pampa has participated in the Panhandle Gives event and while some of the participating organizations have a set goal in mind, SP4K feels that the donations, however many there may be and however big or small, are a blessing and the generosity shown by the community in previous years gives them hope that this year will be even better.
“I think every year the participation has gotten better and it’s so nice. We’ve been so blessed and each year has been a little more. I think if we start studying the numbers, we would get a little nervous. But then God provides and we get a gift that we didn’t expect. We’ve just been very blessed to be going strong and we are proud to be a part of the Panhandle Gives.”
Those who wish to donate can take comfort in knowing that every single cent and dollar goes directly to the food supply. The many volunteers and those on the Board personally purchase the sacks and crates that are used during the packing and distributing process. Volunteers are always welcome and can contact Suzanne Pingel at www.suzanne.pingel@pampaisd.net or Kayla at Parnell1976@gmail.com.
For more information about how you can donate during the Panhandle Gives campaign starting November 25, visit their website, panhandlegives.org.
On November 15 during the Lighting Up the Bricks event in downtown Pampa, all 14 organizations that are participating in the Panhandle Gives campaign will have booths set up in The Well STEAM and Literacy Center located at 213 N. Cuyler where more information will be provided about each organization over a hot cup of cocoa.
Check future editions of The Pampa News for other organization highlights!
