ROMEO
PACKING INFORMATION
R & E Automated
70701 Powell Road
Bruce Township, MI 48065
Wednesdays at 3pm
To volunteer: Email Us
STEERING COMMITTEE
Christina Berra
Eva Komini
Amber Scheel
Carol Loeding
Stephanie Guitar
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Blessings in a Backpack Romeo is a “neighbor-helping-neighbor” program that is designed to help bridge the gap of the nutritional needs of children from the Romeo Community Schools. The district serves students from Romeo and portions of Addison Township, Armada Township, Bruce Township, Oakland Township, Ray Township, Shelby Township, and Washington Township
There are 1,269 children in the Romeo Community School District who qualify for Federal Free and Reduced Fee Lunch. All these children would qualify for the Blessings in a Backpack program. Each week, we will distribute backpacks filled with enough non-perishable food for the weekend to students in need. The goal of Blessings in a Backpack is to keep these students from going hungry on the weekends and remove barriers to academic success.
The plan is to start the program at one elementary school. As funds become available, the goal is to grow the Blessings in a Backpack program to be able to serve additional schools within the Romeo Community District until all the schools are participating.
To help this program reach its goals, please donate so we can begin sending food home to children who need our help. When we are ready to begin packing, we will also need individuals, groups, or companies to assist with packing and transportation.
Please visit the website regularly to see the progress we are making and the announcement that backpacks of food are going home to the children of Romeo Community Schools.
We Are Packing
We would like to thank the DRIVE R & E Family Foundation for adopting the first two schools in the Romeo School District. The Blessings in a Backpack program is beginning in September 2022 for students attending Hamilton Parsons and Washington Elementary Schools. R & E Automated has also donated the use of their building as a packing site for the program. We hope others will follow your lead by donating or adopting a school so the program can be expanded to other schools in the Romeo School District.
Would you like to volunteer? – You can volunteer for the Steering Committee or as a volunteer to help.
The Steering Committee is an advisory group which oversees the program for the community. The committee has three main functions. These functions are:
- Responsible for raising the funds necessary for beginning the program
- Weekly operations of the program
- Maintain sufficient funds to ensure the continued running of the program.
We already have a few members for the steering committee, but we could use additional members to round out the committee. The committee meets once a month in the early months of the program and then as necessary to maintain a smooth running of the program. Additional members are needed for the other positions on the committee. These positions oversee Volunteers, Logistics, Inventory, Packing, Fund Raising, and Social Media.
Many volunteers are needed on a weekly basis to help with the program. If you have the time to assist with any of these activities, we will welcome your assistance. You can volunteer weekly, once a month or a few times a year. Areas where volunteers are needed are for Packing, Pre-packing, Transportation, and Food Delivery Day. The number of backpacks being packed will determine the time required for these activities but average one hour once a week.
If you would like to volunteer or would like additional information, please CONTACT US.
A donation of $155.00 will provide a backpack and food to one child each weekend for an entire school year! We have the ability to purchase food at a reduced rate from the Meijer Corporation. Your contribution along with contributions from others will assist in feeding food insecure children over the weekend right in your own community. If you, your company, or your organization would like to help feed food-insecure children in your community please CONTACT US or DONATE online or download a printable donation form.
Your company or your organization can become involved on a larger scale. You can adopt a school district, a school, adopt a set number of backpacks, or adopt a single backpack. Click ADOPT A SCHOOL to learn more about these different support levels. We would be happy to assist in pairing you with a school in your community.