HUNTERSVILLE – Elementary and middle school students in the Lake Norman area without enough food at home have benefited from the generosity of Journey Church volunteers since 2013.

The Bags of Hope program was originally a ministry of Journey Church based in Huntersville.

“A couple of families saw a need at Blythe Elementary to provide food bags for kids who were food insecure,” said Anne Mitchell, one of the program’s two organizers.

Bags of Hope volunteers provide weekend meals for students at Blythe Elementary and J.M. Alexander Middle schools. Students are identified by teachers and counselors, who ask parents if they are interested.

The program is currently serving 41 students, all of whom receive free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch at school.

“In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System, you get free breakfast and lunch, but you don’t get free dinner or weekend meals,” Mitchell said.

The volunteers have gotten notes and cards from appreciative parents, Mitchell said.

“Teachers tell us how much the students and parents appreciate the food,” Mitchell said. “Kids will come home Friday afternoon to an empty refrigerator and now they have food to eat for the whole weekend.”

Bags of Hope operates under the Hope Lake Norman, or HopeLKN organization.

Randy Belk, the sponsorship coordinator for HopeLKN, said the nonprofit was established last year to help promote and fundraise for local charities. Before becoming a nonprofit, it started as a hashtag, #HopeLKN, used to identify various church initiatives.

“We started looking at different service opportunities and decided with what we had in mind it might be better to make HopeLKN a separate entity,” Belk said.

Journey Church hosted a Hope for the Holidays event in December 2015. The gift-wrapping fundraiser at the event brought in more than $100,000, which helped HopeLKN find an office location. The church also donated $26,000 to each of its strategic partners: Ada Jenkins, the Hope House Foundation and the Barium Springs Home for Children.

“The reason HopeLKN exists is a two-pronged focus: We want to help raise awareness for local nonprofits in the Lake Norman area and we want to help raise funds for those organizations,” Belk said. “We’re always looking to expand our network of strategic partners.”

Mitchell said anyone interested in getting Bags of Hope started at a school in northern Mecklenburg County can contact HopeLKN at 704-530-7511.

“We definitely want to serve all the schools that don’t have these weekend food bags already provided. There are schools and students who aren’t being identified,” Mitchell said.  “I have a heart for children, and I know that hunger causes a lot of problems and I don’t want anyone to experience that. Not having enough food is a big deal and affects people in lots of different ways.”

Credit: https://www.lakenormanpublications.com/articles/bags-of-hope-provides-food-for-local-students/