Carry On Bags needs funding to maintain meal program at same level

FAIRFIELD – Carry On Bags has served hundreds if not thousands of children in the Fairfield School District since its inception in 2014, however without additional funding the organization will not be able to continue the program at the same level.

The group supplies meals to students to take home over the weekend when they don't have a school breakfast or lunch to rely on. A family can sign up to receive a bag of meals with no questions asked.

Vaju Moorthy has announced that she will hold a benefit lunch for Carry On Bags on Friday, Dec. 6., at Phoenix Rising Hall in Fairfield. Moorthy serves dishes from her native India every Friday, and once a month she chooses a charity to donate the money to. Her organization is called Divine Star Charities, and through it she has contributed to local organizations such as Camp Courageous and Iowa WINS among others, and she has donated between $8,000-$9,000 to Fairfield School District's lunch program to help students who couldn't afford their meals.

Carry On Bags board president Mark Thornton said the money from Divine Star Charities could not come at a better time as the organization needs an infusion of cash to keep going at the level it is. Thornton said Carry On Bags has enough money to last through the end of the year, but unless more donations come in, the group may have to cut back on its food assistance.

'Luckily, we've never had to stop the program for lack of funds,” Thornton said. 'It's such a fantastic thing [Moorthy] is doing for us.”

Thorton and his wife Barb started the organization because they worried about what kids were able to eat for those two days a week when they're not in school. In the Fairfield Community School District, about half of the students are on free and reduced price lunches.

Thornton said that all the money the group raises goes toward purchasing meals since all the labor is donated. Not only are all the board members volunteers, but the people who assemble the meals are, too. Once every two weeks, a dozen or more people gather at the First United Methodist Church in Fairfield to pack the lunches. Volunteers are drawn from churches and service organizations from the area, each taking a turn to do their part for the kids.

Food items included in a weekend grocery bag are two packets of oatmeal, three granola bars, a jar of peanut butter, a box of ravioli and one of macaroni and cheese, and cans of either chicken or tuna. Dee Sandquist, formerly the nutritionist at Fairfield Hy-Vee and now a Jefferson County Supervisor, helped Carry On Bags select items based on their nutrition.

Board secretary Mark LaVan said the idea behind those particular food selections was that they were meant to provide two breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners, 'while still surviving the bus ride home.”

Each bag costs $4, but food donations from the Food Bank of Iowa have lowered the cost about 50-75 cents per bag. When the Food Bank of Iowa is filling orders to take to the Fairfield Community School District, it delivers a month's worth of ravioli to Carry On Bags for free. FCSD social worker Matt Smith coordinates the program.

'We're fortunate that the school has partnered with the food bank to reduce our costs,” Thornton said.

The group delivers meals to all the school buildings in the Fairfield district, plus Maharishi School, Seida Head Start, Homeschool Assistance Program, and Community Childcare.

LaVan and Karen Price, a founding board member of Carry On Bags, said they don't want there to be any stigma attached to taking one of these meal bags home. At the elementary level, teachers put the bags in the students' lockers so no one knows who gets a bag and who doesn't. At the high school, the bags are left in a box in the vestibule. Students are free to take them as they wish. LaVan and Price said this has worked really well, and the organizers have not heard of it being abused, or of students who wanted a bag but didn't get one.

Carry On Bags treasurer Ron Haines said the organization's annual budget is about $25,000-$30,000, supplied by a combination of grants and private donations. For the first few years, the group's budget was closer to $50,000, partly because more families signed up for the program. At one time, as many as 300 students had signed up, though that number is now closer to 250 or below.

In addition to receiving money from grants, the group has also started raffling a quilt in November, which has been donated by a local resident and which sells for between $500-$800.

LaVan and Price said the group relies on grants, but it can't keep pulling from the same organizations year after year. They said most grant-rewarding entities are happy to donate a time or two, but they also want to spread their money widely among different local charities.

LaVan mentioned that Cambridge Investment Research has been very helpful, but the company had to cut back on its donation. He said Carry On Bags has received a grant from the Greater Jefferson County Foundation, and that he has written applications for three other grants, too.

When Carry On Bags has money left over, it has gone to purchase food vouchers for the students. The students can redeem the vouchers at Fairfield Hy-Vee for milk or meat, whichever the voucher is for. Haines said it's a nice way to add variety and extra nutrition to the students' weekend meals.

For more information or to donate to the organization, email carryonbags52556@gmail.com.