A family effort makes a big difference in fighting hunger

Piper Bold understands why some people may not think childhood hunger is a problem.

“I think it’s hard for people to understand things they don’t see with their own eyes,” said Piper, a senior at Blue Valley North. “But it’s a big problem, bigger than people think.”

Piper, 18, of Leawood, has been to Latin America and seen poverty there. She knows that some kids in this area, including Johnson County, don’t always have enough food at home.

And she’s surrounded by family and friends who also get it, including her sister, Kylie, and their mother, Sharon Bold. Late last month, the girls and Sharon Bold’s fiance, Rod Hennig, went to Harvesters to volunteer and present a check for the BackSnack program.

The $5,000 check from the families’ Offering Hope foundation will pay for 20 students to have a backpack for an entire school year. Harvesters provides BackSnacks to 17,000 students in the 26-county area each week and hopes to increase that to 19,000 by the end of the school year.

“You understand how blessed you are,” said Hennig, a regional vice president of First Watch Restaurants. “We can always open the refrigerator and pantry and find food. It’s not fair.”

In the KC Challenge virtual food drive, donors can sponsor one child’s weekend pack of food for a full school year for $250. Inside each BackSnack is 4 pounds of food, enough for two breakfasts, two other meals and some snacks.

“You have to realize not just one person can make a change,” Piper said. “You have to have a support system that gives you the opportunity to do what needs to be done.”