In February 2023, Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra announced that 61 applicants requesting $4 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act were awarded grants ranging from $3,840 to $450,000. St. John’s Episcopal Church, the lead applicant of a group of four faith communities, received $158,390 for a pilot program to provide food for food-insecure Northampton schoolchildren on weekends, when they don’t have access to school breakfast and lunch.

The program meets several of the goals of the ARPA grant, including addressing food insecurity, youths, education, family support, and social equity.

Also participating in the program are College Church, First Churches of Northampton, and the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence. The committee overseeing the program includes representatives from those faith communities, as well as the invaluable guidance and support of Mistelle Hannah, food services director for Northampton Public Schools, and Naomi Desilets, agency resource coordinator for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, where the program gets significant assistance in the form of free food.

The Weekend Nutrition for Northampton Schools (WNNS) pilot program got off the ground in the fall of 2023 for eligible Bridge Street Elementary School students. Those who signed up for the program were randomly assigned to receive either a grocery gift card or nutritious, no-perishable foods for breakfast and lunch on weekends.

Students receiving food packs also get local grocery gift cards of $10 to cover school break weekends when food packs cannot be distributed. The four congregations rotate responsibility for donations of fresh fruit to add to the packs, providing healthy snacks for students without tapping grant funds to do so.

The grant also funded after-school cooking classes at JFK Middle School during the 2023-2024 school year, where students received a free crockpot, recipes and the ingredients for nutritious crockpot meals, and instructions and demonstrations on how to cook the dishes over the weekend.

This year, Leeds Elementary School joins Bridge Street School in participating in the weekend nutrition program, doubling our outreach. The faith communities continue to provide fresh fruit for the food packs, and as a special treat, participating students at both schools are receiving the gift of a grade-level book to read, thanks to donations from First Churches of Northampton and High Five Books in Florence.

The WNNS program has expanded and the need for volunteers has also grown. But the funds for this important work will eventually run out when the grant winds down in June 2026. The WNNS committee is hoping to keep this program going for Northampton schoolchildren after the grant ends and is asking for volunteer and financial support to ensure the nutritional needs of the community’s children are met.

There is a clear connection between nutrition and improved school attendance, learning and behavior. All of our children deserve access to good nutrition; please consider volunteering or making a donation to support the WNNS program beyond its grant period. For more information about volunteering or donating, WNNS can be reached at wnnsnhamp@gmail.com or 413-268-4102.

Leslie Skantz-Hodgson lives in Leeds.