11/23/2020

Chief Joseph Elementary School Backpack Program

Hungry in Arbor Lodge - not you? 

But maybe a neighbor, or your neighbor and their children. 

Each year near the winter break, we ask Arbor Lodge neighbors to donate $5 gift cards to Chief Joseph Elementary to help those children who normally receive a weekly backpack of food from the school. Things are different this year. Food backpacks now go out every other week with enough for those 2 weeks. But there will be a break in backpacks going out between mid December and early January. 

How can you help?  

• Food Donations

Please check out this inventory list for items needed. Hopefully this helps if you are thinking of picking up an extra item or two in your regular shopping routine. The Chief Joseph Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) sends home two weekends worth of food to thirty students on the 1st and 3rd weeks of the month. So while sometimes the inventory numbers look healthy, it really doesn't last that long! As always, these are suggestions and goals, and will adjust as needed and always send home plenty of food. If you have suggestions for items not listed here please contact: backpack@chiefjosephschool.org 

There will be two more bag distributions this calendar year (Friday 12/4 and 12/18). Donations can be brought to the table set up between the temporary building and the main school building, just outside the door of the temporary building. A volunteer will be there between 9:30-10:30am on those dates listed. Donations cannot be brought to the school library as their open hours have been put on pause. If those times don’t work please contact backpack@chiefjosephschool.org to make arrangements. 

• Gift Cards

The PTO will be sending Fred Meyer gift cards home in December. Instead of asking people to donate gift cards, it will be easier in our current situation to accept financial donations and the PTO will handle ordering and distributing the cards! They are hoping to raise at least $25/student. Any amount can be donated through the chiefjosephschool.org site by clicking the "donate" button, please pull down to select "backpack program" and you can also add "gift card" in the notes section.

Please contact backpack@chiefjosephschool.org if you or someone you know prefers to donate in another way.

There are 30 children/families in this program. The hope is that we can give each $25 in gift cards to supplement the backpack going out on December 18th. That means we hope to raise $750 for gift cards. Please consider giving anything you can. Even if 75 of the approximate 3,000 households in Arbor Lodge gave $10 each, we would reach our goal. 

For more information please contact: backpack@chiefjosephschool.org

Thank you for helping your neighbors.