MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Like elsewhere, hundreds of children in Manatee County depend on the free or reduced-priced breakfast and lunch at school.
But hundreds of kids leave school, not knowing if or when their next meal will be.
For fourteen years, Feeding Empty Little Tummies (FELT) has been helping those children not go hungry over the weekend. They provide children who are homeless or food insecure with a bag containing six meals and snacks to take with them on weekends.
“Yeah, it breaks your heart to see them or know that maybe on the weekend they don't get anything else besides what's in that black bag,” said FELT volunteer Kathleen Molesky.
FELT began the year with a waiting list for the first time in the local non-profit’s 14-year history.
The current economy and housing crisis have led to a drop in donations but growing demand for FELT’s help.
“So, to actually do what we're doing costs more money, but there's also more kids in need than we've ever seen before,” FELT Director of Marketing and Operations Jessica Ryherd said. “I sit back and just say we can't feed kids like we're gonna fight and fight and fight until we can't fight anymore.”
Last Friday, FELT provided 10,494 meals for 1,749 students who attend 55 different schools around Manatee County.
Already this year, the charity has provided kids with nearly 95,000 meals.
“I'm not fighting for my job. I'm not fighting for what I do here. I'm fighting for these kids, and I take it very personally,” Ryherd said. “When we have to turn kids away or say you're gonna have to wait a couple of weeks before you get food.”
Volunteers of all ages help pack the bags of food on Wednesday and Friday mornings. Those bags are then delivered to schools around the county on Friday.
Palmetto mother-of-two, Whitney Drake, has been volunteering for a couple of years.
“I want to give back and show them the importance of being able to have a healthy meal and a hot meal at home,” Drake said.
FELT volunteers never have any contact with the schools. But volunteer Kathleen Molesky first learned of FELT when she was a teacher when some of her own students would receive the bags of food.
“The kids were so excited when they would get the bag,” Molesky said. “As soon as they got the bag, they’d open it up and see what they got for the day. Some of them would have the snacks right away.”
“But it meant the world to some of those kids.”
When she left teaching, she tracked down the organization. Now, she regularly volunteers and even brings her 14-year-old twins sometimes.
Meanwhile, Ryherd said that FELT is having to make difficult decisions about how many children they will be able to feed next school year.
Ryherd said that anyone wishing to help can do so by sharing their cause on social media or volunteering. The non-profit also accepts food or cash donations.
“Financial support always helps the most because I can stretch a dollar further than most people can stretch a dollar, just because of the commitments in the contracts that we've made,” Ryherd said.
To learn more or help, visit Feeding Empty Little Tummies online at feltinc.org.
