Partnership with Harvesters feeds hungry Northland kids

The Northland kindergartner wants to be Superman when he grows up.

And he has it all planned.

“I would go to outer space,” says the 5-year-old, his hands jetting into the air, “and I would save the world.”

For now, it’s him and his mom, and times can be financially tough.

To help with that, every Friday he’s one of 40 kids at Graden Elementary School in Parkville who takes home a BackSnack from Harvesters. That’s possible because of a partnership formed a few years ago.

In the beginning, Harvesters told the Northland Childhood Hunger Initiative it could provide 1,000 packs in Platte and Clay counties each week during the school year. The initiative would have to come up with the funding for any additional packs.

Through a strong community fundraising effort, initiative members have raised enough to pay for 1,800 BackSnacks. So, roughly 2,800 kids in the Northland receive a pack each Friday. The initiative also more than doubled the number of schools the food goes to, from 26 in the beginning to 59 now.

“I know people realize there’s hunger and they’re aware of Harvesters and what they do,” said Chris Evans. “But I think they think it’s homeless people. They don’t realize it’s a chronic problem. It could be a family of five, with three kids at home and they live near you.”

As for the kindergartner at Graden Elementary, he always tries to help his mom put the food away each Friday — “get it to where it’s supposed to go.”

And when ravioli or spaghetti are inside, he’s pretty happy. Those are his favorites.

The boy also likes to help his mom warm the ravioli and open the fruit.

“I share my BackSnack with my mom,” he says. “My mom eats it with me on my family’s couch.”