Backpack Ministry helps Groesbeck students

First Baptist Church of Groesbeck recently donated food to Backpack Ministry in support of needy Groesbeck ISD students.

The ministry was started by First United Methodist Church of Thornton roughly 20 years ago, according to Lea Hardison. Mandy Anglin began working with the program in the early years, noting that “we have rooms at each campus where teachers can take students to pick up what they need. We have tennis shoes, socks, underwear and more.”

Hardison remembers the congregation bringing about 15 bags each week for students who needed it at H.O. Whitehurst Elementary. Parents began organizing the program at the Enge-Washington campus, and it spread to the entirety of Groesbeck ISD. Hardison is retired from Groesbeck ISD, having served as principal at HOW and Enge for a period of time.

She estimates that between 65 and 70 meals have been delivered each week each year, with about 45 Enge-Washington currently being served each week this year. For 36 weeks in a school year, this equates to between 2,700 students helped each year over that time period.

The backpack ministry goes beyond providing food for students. All Groesbeck ISD campuses now have a room in which students can donate to or visit for needed food, school supplies and clothes. According to Anglin, however, organizers can’t track how many students receive supplies when teachers take them. She thinks more than 2,700 are helped each year.

The Methodist Church in Thornton donates monthly to the program, with First Baptist Groesbeck primarily furnishing Enge-Washington and the middle school campus.

“We have a ‘Goat Boutique’ in the high school that has food available as well as clothes, toiletries and more,” said Hardison. “We get donations from churches across Groesbeck. We also do prom, providing dresses, jewelry, a tux…”

The impact of the ministry, organizers, and churches is not lost on Groesbeck youth.