BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
A project designed to feed hungry children – by sending them home with backpacks full of nutritious, child-friendly foods – received a large donation Tuesday from a local power company’s foundation.
The AEP Foundation, the philanthropic arm of American Electric Power, contributed $30,000 to Backpacks Unite, the food program coordinated by the United Way of Russell and Washington County.
“We are pleased to support this project,” Mary Begley, AEP’s external affairs manager, said in a written statement announcing the donation. “The goal of our foundation is to support and plan an active, positive role in the communities where we live and work. Education, youth, hunger and housing are areas we feel strongly about, and this project gets to the heart of these issues.”
The donations will send more than 6,000 backpacks of foods home with children in 17 elementary schools. The $30,000 will benefit 167 students each week, totaling more than 36,000 meals during the school year.
“School is more than just teachers and books. It also gives our children the best chance to succeed,” said Fred Parker, the United Way’s board chairman. “These partnerships keep the backpack program alive, so it can fuel the minds of our future.”
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