AVONDALE – AUBURN HILLS
PACKING INFORMATION
Meadows Learning Center
1435 Auburn Road
Rochester Hills, MI 48309
Room 105
Wednesday at 12:30 pm
To volunteer: Email Us
To sign-up to pack backpacks, go to our Sign-up Genius page.
STEERING COMMITTEE
Chairperson:
Janelle Tischer
Members:
Lindsay Goebel
Assistant Fundraiser
Susan Jackson
Skill Coordinator
Julie Jones
SFL Corporate Partner
Annette McAvoy
Avondale Public Relations
Kim Nash
Avondale Schools Representative
Chip Tischer
Avondale School Board Representative
Gary Wade
Inventory
Kessie Kaltsounis
Chair Emeritus
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
With 30% of students in the Avondale School District living in homes with incomes below the poverty line, childhood hunger is a reality in our community. These are your neighbors, and because of the economic hardships for these families many of their kids do not have food on the weekends. Our organization feeds 350 hunger-insecure Avondale children who would otherwise go hungry on the weekends; Nearly 90% of those are elementary aged students.
In November 2023 we will celebrate the 15th anniversary of our program. Since our program’s inception we have packed over 160,000 bags of food. We estimate this school year we will have provided over 1 MILLION meals since we have begun helping the Avondale community. Our Program is managed through the Community Foundation of Greater Rochester and funded through grants, patron/organizational contributions, and corporate partners.
The work our organization is doing is making a difference in the lives of Avondale kids!
Kid + Food + Backpack = Happy Healthy Kids
- 78% of kids feel cared for by their community.
- 71% of kids feel that Blessings in a Backpack is helping their family.
- 60% of kids have fewer behavioral issues.
- 59% of kids find it easier to learn at school.
To continue the success of our program, we rely on grants, patron/organizational contributions, and corporate partners. Our operating budget is $38,500 each school year. A yearly donation of $155 will provide a backpack full of food for one child every weekend (6 meals) for an entire school year.
Charity Golf Scramble
May 6, 2024
Great Oaks Country Club
Thank you for considering participating in the SFL Charity Golf Scramble. This is our inaugural event to raise funds to provide food for hunger insecure children during the weekends.
Please, take this opportunity to play Great Oaks Country Club which is nestled in the rolling hills of Oakland County in the heart of Rochester, Michigan and one of metro Detroit’s best kept secrets. In 1971 Great Oaks Country Club was opened. Towering oak trees lined the boulevard to the clubhouse, providing it with its name. Since then, Great Oaks has become a social hub of Rochester and the only member owned, family-oriented private country club in the area.
There are many other opportunities for you to participate; become a sponsor, join the golfers for dinner, or make a donation. With your support, proceeds from this event will benefit the Avondale – Blessings in a Backpack program for the school age children.
Form you team with family, friends, neighbors, co-workers or fellow students. You can register your Foursome online by clicking here. If you do not have enough golfers for a foursome we can pair you with other golfers to create a foursome.
There are also opportunities to be a sponsor for the golf outing. Full details are provided on the Golf Invite which you can view online by clicking below.
Besides sending backpacks home each week the Blessings in a Backpack-Avondale program has established a Snack Pantry. Students in the district do not always have a snack to bring during the week from home. The steering committee saw this need and developed an Amazon Wish List to help fill our pantry. It’s very easy to add Blessings items right into your shopping cart and the items you purchase come directly to our pantry. Thank you for considering!
Blessings in a Backpack-Avondale was not able to hold its two fundraisers in the spring of 2021. Over half of the money necessary to sustain the Avondale program comes from these two events. We would like to thank the companies and organizations who stepped forward this spring for the children in their communities . Their contributions when totaled will feed over Read More…