H.O.P.E. – Hands Out Providing Encouragement
Weekend Food Program
Violet Baptist Church
This program was created to help those families in need of meals for their children over the weekend. This is a wonderful program that helps those families in need within the PLSD. Candidates considered are those who rely heavily on school food for nourishment.
What it is: Food provided per student for 3 meals a day over Saturday and Sunday. The food will be dropped off at the school office on Fridays. The appropriate student will be notified and will come retrieve their food bag.
We follow the school calendar & inclement weather schedule. No deliveries on Friday, if no school. If we do know of a long weekend, we can arrange for 3 days worth of meals. We have been approached by Mid Ohio Food Bank and have partnered with them to grow this program. Violet Baptist Church (VBC) has volunteered to host the program and recruit volunteers from the community to join at VBC weekly to pack the food and distribute to the appropriate schools. Again, H.O.P.E. does not know whom the recipients are in order to keep strict confidentiality. If there is a food allergy, we do identify that up front.
We keep strict guidelines on food prep safety at the elementary levels. No food that needs a can opener, heat or microwave will be provided. This changes for the upper grade levels. Also, we keep records for food safety and handling according to the standards set by the FDA, and have completed training for such at Mid Ohio.
Lastly, this is no strings attached. The program is absolutely free for the student. If a household has more than one student, each student would receive a bag of food.
Please contact Marieca Mattox, School Counselor at Heritage, if you are interested in this program or would like to learn more about it. Phone: 614-833-6385, email: marieca_mattox@plsd.us
The Weekend Food Program is offered and organized by the H.O.P.E. Ministry of Violet Baptist Church.