About

From its founding in 2005, Power Packs Project has served thousands of children in our community. The challenges of the past few years have increased the need to unprecedented levels. We are proud to say that, thanks to the support of donors and volunteers, we have been able to continue to meet the need, despite food shortages and increases in costs. The packs go beyond addressing a child’s hunger. Research has shown these programs result in increased end-of-grade reading and math test scores for economically disadvantaged primary school students.

Nearly 20,000 children in Lancaster and Lebanon counties live in households where there is not enough food to eat.

Although students are provided with breakfast and lunch in school, their household is unable to supply meals over the weekend. So, they return to school on Monday hungry and unable to concentrate. While that number is astounding, Power Packs Project has been addressing this need for 17 years. We provide packs of food to ensure students can have nutritious meals over the weekend. This helps children show up at school on Monday well-fed and ready to learn.

Good nutrition is critical to success in school.

Children who don’t get enough to eat often have:

  • Difficulty concentrating

  • Lower Math and English scores n Problems interacting with their peers

  • Struggles finishing tests in time

  • Lower graduation rates

A Power Pack contains:

  • Low-cost ($5 to $7), easy-to-prepare recipe

  • All the ingredients to make that recipe

  • 1 pound of protein (canned chicken or tuna, frozen meat, legumes)

  • Fresh produce item (carrots, green beans, apples, potatoes)

  • 1 quart of fresh milk

  • Extra items such as peanut butter, cereal, healthy snacks, canned fruits and veggies

What is food insecurity?

Food insecurity has the potential to be harmful to individuals of any age, but it can be especially devastating to children. The USDA estimates that nearly 13 million children in the United States live in food-insecure households as of 2016. That means that 1 in 6 children (18%) may not have consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. 

Food insecurity refers to USDA’s measure of lack of access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life for all household members and limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods. Food insecure children are those children living in households experiencing food insecurity.

Food insecure households are not necessarily food insecure all the time. Food insecurity may reflect a household’s need to make trade-offs between important basic needs, such as housing or medical bills, and purchasing nutritionally adequate foods. (Feeding America, 2018)