CRHC Foundation Receives Donation from Lisle Corporation/EZ Way For Backpack Program
11.3.2020 | Clarinda, IA

Lisle Corporation/EZ Way has made a generous donation of $5,000 to Clarinda Regional Health Center’s foundation, Partners in Exceptional Care. This donation will be used to purchase supplemental food for the Junior Cardinal Backpack Program, which impacts local children in our community by helping provide shelf stable food for the weekends while school isn’t in session.
This is the second year of the program, which was established due to the Clarinda Community School District being placed on a waiting list for a federally funded backpack program. The CCSD has been on this waiting list for the past three years.
In 2019, the first year of the Junior Cardinal Backpack program, the hospital foundation received a $10,000 grant from the Clarinda Foundation, which made a significant impact in providing packs of shelf stable food for approximately 140 elementary and middle school aged kids. The funding required to feed one student for an entire school year is approximately $200. For the 2020 school year, and due to the ongoing pandemic, the number of kids needing this program has increased drastically to 220.
Kelli Wilmes, CRHC Dietitian has been leading the fundraising effort for this worthwhile program. Wilmes states, “We have been receiving many donations from local organizations and individuals from the community, which has been amazing. This large donation from Lisle Corporation and EZ Way is extremely helpful and will provide 25 children with supplemental meals on the weekends for the entire school year. At this point we are at the halfway point of hitting our fundraising goal of $40,000 so we still have a little more work to do.”
Wilmes continues to apply for local and state grants to raise more money for this program to ensure it can meet the needs of all these children for the entire school year. She also works every week to ensure the proper shelf stable food is ordered so the kids have two breakfast options and two entrees and that all the items meet nutritional requirements.
If you have any questions regarding PEC’s Junior Cardinal Backpack Program or wish to donate, please reach out to Kelli Wilmes at 712-542-6746.
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