- November 22, 2024
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As Rick Meyer volunteered with Provision Packs to help feed hungry kids in Ormond Beach, he knew Palm Coast kids needed help, too.
Provision Packs, founded in Ormond by Carrie Torres, sends food home with children on the weekends, with the knowledge that some kids only eat at school and don't have food at home. In 2015 she started the program feeding two children; the number is now more than 500.
Thanks to Meyer's involvement, the program recently expanded to Rymfire Elementary School, the first school in Flagler County. Each meal package contains seven meals and has a value of $25. The cost purchased though Second Harvest is $5. Therefore every dollar raised counts, he said.
“I have been delivering food directly to kids every Friday for two years," Meyer wrote in an email. "It’s wonderful to see that look in their eye when I put the package in their back packs. Kids in our area should not have to worry about food!”
Angie Bush, director of Food Services at Flagler Schools, said the number of students on free or reduced lunch is around 65% districtwide. That's up from about 35% about 15 years ago.
She is thrilled that Meyer and Provision Packs are helping Flagler students.
"I love that they're trying to fill a niche that we can't fill," Bush said. "We can do breakfast, lunch, after school, and we do summer breakfast sites, but there's still the weekends. I support it a million percent."