NOW (Nutrition On Weekends)

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The Nutrition On Weekends program is a collaborative, community effort to target childhood hunger. The program provides healthy, ready-to-eat nutritional foods for children during the weekend. The program was created in response to data collected from Marshfield students as part of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. In 2012, 20% of students surveyed indicated he/she had gone to bed hungry at least once in the past thirty days because there was not enough food in the home. In 2017, 27.1% of Marshfield Middle School students and 20.4% Marshfield High School students indicated he or she had gone to bed hungry at least once in the past 30 days because there was not enough food in the home.

A pilot of the program began serving twenty-nine children in the Marshfield School District in October 2013. In the next two years, the program had grown to serve 250-300 students weekly on an annual basis in the Marshfield, Auburndale, Granton and Spencer School Districts. In the 2016-17 school year, Loyal and Greenwood School Districts were added to the program and 451 children were provided supplemental food packs during the year. Pittsville and Stratford Schools were added to the program in the 2017-18.

SPONSORSHIPS
For $78, a child can be provided the supplemental food packs for the entire school year.

Each child receives a weekly food pack containing:
• 2 peanut butter & jelly sandwiches
• 2 cups low-sugar cereal
• 2 pieces of fruit
• baby carrots
• 2 snack items
• cheese