WAYNESBURG, PA – February 10, 2025 The Community Foundation of Greene County (CFGC) received a $50,475 donation from First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Greene County to support the Weekend Backpack Food Program. This grant was made through the DCED Neighborhood Assistance Program tax credit program. The Weekend Backpack Food Program provides a bag of non-perishable food to school-aged children in need at each of the five Greene County School Districts, along with the Greene County Career and Technology Center.
According to Dave Calvario, Executive Director of CFGC, “Hunger in Greene County schools has been identified as a problem. While approximately 65-70% of Greene County school-aged children qualify for free or reduced meals (breakfast and lunch) while at school, this allows them to have full stomachs Monday-Friday. But the next question we must ask is, what happens over the weekend? What do school-aged children eat if there is little available at home on Saturday and Sunday? Lack of food over the weekend causes learning problems come Monday morning since there are so many households in Greene County who qualify for free or reduced meals at school.” According to Calvario, over 250 unduplicated students pick up a bag of food every weekend that school is in session.
“Contributing to the Weekend Backpack Food Program is making an investment in the school-aged children of Greene County,” said Courtney Schroyer, Vice President/Chief Financial Officer of First Federal Savings and Loan Association. In addition, Schroyer said, “First Federal is proud to support all of our Greene County schools through this program.”
Andrea Henneman, Food Service Director for Jefferson-Morgan School District said, “I trust and believe in our Weekend Food Program at Jefferson-Morgan School District. With generous donations from our community and internal members of our District, along with support from the Community Foundation of Greene County, our program makes a sizable difference in the lives of our J-M students. Our Weekend Food Program helps with food security and reduces student’s weekend hunger. At Jefferson-Morgan School District we provide eligible students with a weekly bag on Friday of non-perishable food to take home and enjoy over the weekend in hopes of helping parents stretch their limited food budget. Each bag consists of 2 breakfast, 2 lunch and 2 dinner items along with snacks and drinks for the weekend.”
CFGC has served as the fiscal sponsor of the Weekend Backpack Food Program since its inception in the early 2010s. CFGC works closely with the five school districts, the CTC, and the local community to keep this program funded and operational.
To learn more about the Weekend Backpack Food Program, or how to make a potential tax exempt gift to the program, contact the Community Foundation by phone at 724-627-2010, email at cfgcpa@gmail.com or go to our website at www.cfgcpa.org.
The Community Foundation of Greene County (CFGC), a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2000, is the central philanthropic vehicle in Greene County for donations of various types and sizes. CFGC currently manages over $8 million in assets through more than 100 different endowed and restricted funds.