More than 64 percent of students in Muscogee County are eligible to participate in the free or reduced price lunch programs, according to a report from the Muscogee County School District.

That’s over 20,000 students.

“My jaw dropped,” said Kathy Powell about the first time she saw those numbers. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, are you kidding me?’”

For two years Powell had toyed with the idea of starting a program similar to one started in Texas called Blessings in a Backpack, which provided weekend meals for children who otherwise wouldn’t have that guarantee. As the business manager of Morningside Baptist Church, she had a good foundation, but something always held the program back.

Until this year.

“It was like God placed something on my heart and wouldn’t let me put it down,” she said.

Powell went to Blanchard Elementary School, a place where her ministry saw a need for the Backpack Blessings program, and talked to the school counselor, Randalette Williams, and principal Tim Smith. They were able to start the program in September, using the lists of free-lunch eligible families as a starting point.

Because it is a pilot program and Powell wasn’t sure how they’d fare for donations, the list of students who were offered the program was narrowed down to 100.

Letters were sent home to parents for consent and if the child had siblings at another school, they were added to the list.

Every Wednesday, Powell and other volunteers load up an average of 86 backpacks with six meals: two breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners to get the child through the weekend. The bags are passed out on Friday and the child is responsible for returning the bag on Monday to be refilled for the following week.

The program runs predominately on donations. The Morningside Baptist missions committee allocated money to start the program, but all the backpacks were donated and monetary donations keep the food supply from dwindling.

“Every time we get to the point where we don’t think we’re going to make it, God brings another check in or opens another door,” Powell said.

“People don’t see hunger in Columbus, Georgia, the way they see it in other parts of the world,” she added, admitting she overlooked the problem when her own children were in school. “There was probably hungry children … I just wasn’t looking for them.”

While Morningside Baptist is only able to help one school, Powell said she hopes that the program grows, either through increased donations and participation at her church or through other churches or organizations starting a program of their own.

According to a report from the American Psychological Association, “hungry children were significantly more likely to … have repeated a grade in school,” have problems paying attention in class and following rules, and be more aggressive than peers who didn’t face hunger.

These are statistics Powell knows well.

“This is one of those things that I think over time with have a direct effect on children,” she said.

Morningside Baptist accepts volunteers to pack the bags, as well as donations to buy food.

To sponsor a child for a year, Powell said they figured the cost to be about $144, but she stressed that people don’t have to donate that much, saying all donations go together and every $5 helps feed a hungry child.

For the holidays, they’re doing a special Christmas in a Backpack, where in addition to the food, backpacks will also be filled with toys, books, scarves, mittens and other fun items.

“Oh, (the kids) love it,” said Williams, the Blanchard counselor and school coordinator for Backpack Blessings. “They look forward to getting them.”