{"id":1950,"date":"2019-06-03T10:25:07","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T14:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.presbyterianmission.org\/food-faith\/?p=1950"},"modified":"2021-01-29T12:22:05","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T17:22:05","slug":"backpack-buddies-to-living-wages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/","title":{"rendered":"Backpack Buddies to Living Wages"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"food

Bev and Dottie pack boxes. Photo credit: Clarksville Presbyterian Church<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Six years ago, Dottie Thaxton brought an idea to the mission committee of Clarksville Presbyterian Church (CPC), and a \u201cBackpack Buddies\u201d program was begun for children in their community. \u00a0The church soon realized that the problem of hungry students was larger than they alone could address.\u00a0 So they joined hands with others and have seen the ministry grow.<\/p>\n

CPC invited other churches and organizations in the area to participate, and today the ecumenical program provides food for 120 elementary students and 40 middle school students each week.\u00a0 The principal from the elementary school and the counselor from the middle school have shared about the needs within the student body, and the church helps where they can, providing school supplies, snacks, and personal hygiene items.<\/p>\n

Wanting to do more than feeding the students, the church decided to help \u201cfeed\u201d their brains as well.\u00a0 Twice a year a book fair hosted by the churches offers the Backpack Buddies an opportunity to choose books and other supplies.\u00a0 Working with the school librarian, the church hosts an Accelerated Readers\u2019 Picnic for students who met reading goals during the school year.\u00a0 170 students attended the most recent end of year picnic at a local park.<\/p>\n

\"food

Backpack Buddies Packing Brigade to pack bags for a month. Photo credit: Clarksville Presbyterian Church<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Linda Messier, who leads the CPC mission committee, shared that the church is in a small community which is economically depressed, so hunger is a major problem.\u00a0 In 2016, the local food pantry faced closing its doors, but CPC called a meeting with the ecumenical partners in the Backpack Buddies program.\u00a0 The food pantry was completely reorganized and is now providing more food, more often, to more clients \u2013 and in an updated facility.\u00a0 A group from CPC was instrumental in creating a board to run the food pantry as well as ecumenically-supported community dinners, and members of the church are involved in The Community Garden, which helps supply fresh food for the pantry.\u00a0 Dottie remains active in the church\u2019s mission work, and her husband Robert now coordinates the food pantry ministry.<\/p>\n

The food pantry won a grant from the local Food Lion, <\/em>which works closely with the ministry.\u00a0 The grant allowed the pantry to update its facility and install a computer system.<\/p>\n

\n

PC(USA)\u2019s Presbyterian Hunger Program invites congregations like Clarksville to join its network of Hunger Action Congregations (HACs) that covenant together to help alleviate hunger and eliminate its underlying causes.\u00a0 It just takes being active in one of six hunger response areas to participate.\u00a0 Clarksville Presbyterian is active in all six areas, which meant they could be a Certified<\/em> HAC, and they joined in September of 2018.<\/p>\n

While Clarksville members are active in reaching out with the love of Christ in their own community, they also give to the One Great Hour of Sharing, helping to make a difference in the lives of people in the United States and around the world.\u00a0 Gifts to OGHS support the work of the Presbyterian Hunger Program as well as Self-Development of People and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.<\/p>\n

The backpack program and food pantry are not the full list of the ways church members are reaching out in their community.\u00a0 Last year the women of the church hosted a speaker from the nearby Madeline House for Abused Women to learn about the work of the mission and about their specific needs.\u00a0 The church helps provide goods and financial support.<\/p>\n

And the church began working with a local Baptist Church to provide free soup and bread to three very needy neighborhoods once a month. The prepared soup is delivered to the neighborhoods in a van, and Linda shared, \u201cit is not only soup, but relationships.\u201d\u00a0 During the<\/p>\n

2019 government shutdown, a food initiative started from this partnership helped provide extra food for some of the most needy families in the area.<\/p>\n

A Virginia state senator is a member of Clarksville Presbyterian Church, and members take the opportunity to discuss issues and concerns about injustice.\u00a0 Reaching beyond their doors, members have written to both local and national members of Congress to express concern over livable wages and just and sustainable food systems.\u00a0 Feeling that education is a first step for improving lives, there is also concern about low teacher pay and dilapidated buildings in the area.<\/p>\n

Messier shared that the interim preacher, Dr. Jonathan Barker, had often challenged the congregation to be part of the solution to the injustices, hunger and poverty they saw. \u00a0The current pastor, Rev. Annette Eckerd Goard, arrived shortly before the church became a certified HAC.\u00a0 Impressed with how involved the church family was with local hunger issues, she encouraged them to apply, and she continues to both challenge and support the congregation\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t sound like the church is sticking with the status quo on their mission.\u00a0 Messier included in the HAC application, \u201cWith hunger being a big problem in our area, we often talk about it to determine what else our small congregation can do to help alleviate the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

We are grateful to Clarksville Presbyterian Church and other churches who have covenanted with us as Hunger Action Congregations and shared their stories.\u00a0 Would your congregation like to join us?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Visit www.pcusa.org\/hac<\/a> to find out more about the six areas of response, and how to join.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Six years ago, Dottie Thaxton brought an idea to the mission committee of Clarksville Presbyterian Church (CPC), and a \u201cBackpack Buddies\u201d program was begun for children in their community. \u00a0The church soon realized that the problem of hungry students was larger than they alone could address.\u00a0 So they joined hands with others and have seen… Read more »<\/a>","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":1952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3880,2746],"tags":[2489,24,536,36],"class_list":["post-1950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economic-justice","category-hunger-action-congregations","tag-backpack-buddies","tag-hunger","tag-living-wage","tag-presbyterian"],"yoast_head":"\nBackpack Buddies to Living Wages - Food and Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Backpack Buddies to Living Wages\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Six years ago, Dottie Thaxton brought an idea to the mission committee of Clarksville Presbyterian Church (CPC), and a \u201cBackpack Buddies\u201d program was begun for children in their community. \u00a0The church soon realized that the problem of hungry students was larger than they alone could address.\u00a0 So they joined hands with others and have seen... Read more »\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Food and Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-03T14:25:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-29T17:22:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/cpc.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"625\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"399\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Kang Bartlett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Kang Bartlett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/\",\"name\":\"Backpack Buddies to Living Wages - Food and Faith\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/cpc.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-03T14:25:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-29T17:22:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/#\/schema\/person\/7c7725d2162c8a26f77ab85e7894f944\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/cpc.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/cpc.png\",\"width\":625,\"height\":399,\"caption\":\"Bev and Dottie pack boxes at Clarksville. [Photo: Clarksville Presbyterian Church]\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Backpack Buddies to Living Wages\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/\",\"name\":\"Food and Faith\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/#\/schema\/person\/7c7725d2162c8a26f77ab85e7894f944\",\"name\":\"Andrew Kang Bartlett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/500e80d0517e36938c9dcc29cfa52930?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/500e80d0517e36938c9dcc29cfa52930?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andrew Kang Bartlett\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/author\/andrewkangbartlett\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Backpack Buddies to Living Wages - Food and Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Backpack Buddies to Living Wages","og_description":"Six years ago, Dottie Thaxton brought an idea to the mission committee of Clarksville Presbyterian Church (CPC), and a \u201cBackpack Buddies\u201d program was begun for children in their community. \u00a0The church soon realized that the problem of hungry students was larger than they alone could address.\u00a0 So they joined hands with others and have seen... Read more »","og_url":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/","og_site_name":"Food and Faith","article_published_time":"2019-06-03T14:25:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-01-29T17:22:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":625,"height":399,"url":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/cpc.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Andrew Kang Bartlett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andrew Kang Bartlett","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/","url":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/","name":"Backpack Buddies to Living Wages - Food and Faith","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/cpc.png","datePublished":"2019-06-03T14:25:07+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-29T17:22:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/#\/schema\/person\/7c7725d2162c8a26f77ab85e7894f944"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/cpc.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/cpc.png","width":625,"height":399,"caption":"Bev and Dottie pack boxes at Clarksville. [Photo: Clarksville Presbyterian Church]"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/clarksvillepc\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Backpack Buddies to Living Wages"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/#website","url":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/","name":"Food and Faith","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/#\/schema\/person\/7c7725d2162c8a26f77ab85e7894f944","name":"Andrew Kang Bartlett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/500e80d0517e36938c9dcc29cfa52930?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/500e80d0517e36938c9dcc29cfa52930?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Andrew Kang Bartlett"},"url":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/author\/andrewkangbartlett\/"}]}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1950"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1954,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1950\/revisions\/1954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/food-faith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}