Walker County Schools has extended its Backpack Blessings program to include students in the Chickamauga City Schools district.
Born out of a partnership with the North Georgia Community YMCA, the program provides nearly 600 children with food to take home from school for the weekend.
Last year alone, the continually growing program provided 18,000 meals for children in Walker County Schools, many of whom Superintendent Damon Raines said may only receive hot meals at school during the week.
The expansion will bring meal packs to a total of 40 students in Gordon Lee Middle and Chickamauga Elementary.
The inclusion comes as the result of Dixie Fahrubel, secretary to the assistant principal of Gordon Lee High School. Fahrubel proposed the idea of starting a program similar to Backpack Blessings this spring after spending some time volunteering for Walker County Schools' operation with her grandson.
"It all came because she was so impressed by it and wanted to assist the children in Chickamauga," said Chickamauga City Schools Superintendent Melody Day. "She said even though we're small and don't reach as many children as [Walker does], we have children in need."
Roughly 22 percent of Chickamauga City Schools' 1,350 students qualify for free and reduced-price lunch based on their socioeconomic status.
Fahrubel continued to push for the program despite being diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and administrators agreed.
"She has the biggest heart of anyone I know," Day said of Fahrubel, who still shows up for work day after day despite the illness. "When she devotes herself to something, she is going to give it all she has. We're all amazed at her strength. It's just a wonderful example of what one person can do if they come forward."
Instead of replicating Walker's program, John Donahoo, executive director of the North Georgia YMCA, recommended Chickamauga City Schools join Walker's ongoing operation, resulting in all volunteers packing for both districts at the same location. Day said the decision to join forces is what enabled Chickamauga City Schools to start its program Oct. 1.
"It definitely saved time for us so we could start the program earlier instead of having to start from scratch in our own system," Day said, explaining that it would have taken several additional months to set up a site location and make other necessary preparations.
Students are chosen for the program by administrators, counselors and teachers based on need, with consideration of criteria such as eligibility for the free or reduced-price meals program, and Day said she'd love to continue to expand the program to meet the needs of more students in the Chickamauga school district.
"We've just begun, but we've already come with some other names to add [to the list of pack recipients]," she said.
Each of the weekly distributed bags cost $1.50 to put together, and the school district has already begun fundraising efforts that will continue through the month of November to fund next year's meal packs.
Email Myron Madden at mmadden@timesfreepress.com