in this issue >>>
Not Just for Kids
1
Volunteer Spotlight
2
Stories from the Halls
2
Mary Beth Says
3
Spring 2015 >>>
A community solution to helping kids be kids
Hope
not Hunger
Not Just for Kids
Staff
Mary Beth Luedtke, Executive
Director
Board of Directors
Mike Berry, President
Phil Raimer, Treasurer
Linda Eden
Dana Stilson
Tom Sheldon
Don Ligrani
Ilene Roggensack
Sam Tilford
Dan Sharp
Special Shout Out
Anschutz Foundation
Grand Junction Rotary Club
Redlands Lions Club
Kohl’s
400 individual donors
Over 140 dedicated volunteers
Colleges create food banks for students
As Kids Aid strives to ensure that kids of all ages are “only hungry to
learn,” we recently began working with Colorado Mesa University
supporting a food bank on campus. Rose Willett, a CMU Scholarship
Student Mentor in the Office of Diversity, Advocacy and Student Health,
runs the campus food bank. She sees students who routinely struggle
with having enough money for basic needs like food and housing. She
states, “Many students are homeless. Some students live in their cars
[and] we have even heard of students living in tents.” This is partly due
to the fact that many students do not have financial support from
families, whether it’s because they are first generation students or
students just out of the foster care system. Another reason is grants
and loans are typically only enough for tuition and don’t come close to
paying for living expenses. For these students, food seems like a luxury
and they tend to stretch their funds by eating only once a day. Others
take one semester off each year so they can work full time to pay for
living expenses when they eventually return to school. Those that can
work do, yet that comes with its own challenges. It is difficult for some
students to find employment that fits with the classroom schedule.
This means most jobs need to be at night and unless you have a vehicle,
there is limited public transportation that supports night work.
Continued on page 4
Stories from the Halls
After Christmas break, we enrolled a new student who attended another
elementary school here in the valley and had been receiving a backpack food
bag at the old school. As the student was touring the school and learned what
my job was, her eyes got very serious and said that she would find me on
Friday. I was taken back a little and asked her why. This is what she said; “You
haven’t got to meet my family yet because I am new here, but we have lots of people and I don’t want to be
hungry again. If you are the lady who knows where the food bags are I want to find you and make sure that I
get one even though I am new. Will you write me a pass so I can come and find you?” I knelt down and held
her arms and told her that her old school had given us all her paperwork including her Kids Aid backpack form.
I assured her that her name would be on the list of kids receiving a bag in her classroom on Friday. I went on
to tell her that whether she was a kid who had gone here for a long time or a new kid, anyone who needs a
food bag is welcome and we make sure everyone who needs it gets one. She looked up at the principal with a
smile and said, “Well, I guess the only other thing I need to know is where the bathroom is.”
-Elementary School Coordinator
5k/10k 2015 Trail Trot
Volunteer Spotlight
Meet Bob and Marie Boulger
Kids Aid is excited to hold its
second
annual
trail
run
fundraiser on October 17th, 2015!
New this year, we’ve added a
10K for those who want more.
Please
visit
our
website,
www.kidsaidcolorado.org
for details and to register!
Bob and Marie have been
volunteers for Kids Aid
almost since the very
beginning.
They
were
instrumental
in
initially
setting up our warehouse
space to be functional and
efficient. These days they
handle all of the Thursday
orders for delivery from the
warehouse. Besides their
work for Kids Aid, Bob and
Marie are busy enjoying
their grandchildren and being
active in their church.
Thanks Bob & Marie
for all that you do!
Mary Beth Says >>>
Grand Gratitude
Grand Junction never ceases to amaze me!
I’ve been working with Kids Aid now for one and a half years and just
when I think it couldn’t get better; this valley rises to the occasion. In
December, Kids Aid asked our community for support – again – and it
was our best month yet in raising the funds we need to support this
program. THANK YOU! We are so grateful for you.
As families continue to struggle, and children still don’t have consistent
access to food on the weekends, our numbers have climbed. We are
now serving 2,070 kids each week! I share this number with friends
outside of this community, and it never fails, they always say, “surely
that’s how many you serve in a year, not a week, right?” This community
knows that there are too many kids needing Kids Aid services and is very
quick to make sure that every child needing food receives food.
Our volunteers continue to amaze me! Not only do people seek us out to
help, those that commit to volunteering, volunteer weekly and for many
hours. Moving pallets of tuna and lifting cases of soup is not an easy job.
Volunteers always feel bad if they need to call me to say they are sick or
are going on a well—deserved vacation. The dedication is profound which is only matched by my gratitude for their service.
If you can’t tell, gratitude has been on my mind. My New Year’s
resolution was and is (no, not giving up chocolate) to think of at least
one thing that I am grateful for each day. More than this, my goal has
been to express that gratitude as well. This program makes it very easy.
You all have generously supported Kids Aid, whether financially or
volunteering time and skills and I speak on behalf of those we serve,
I truly cannot express how grateful we are for all of you.
With Warm Regards,
Mary Beth Luedtke, Executive Director
We are currently serving
over 2,070 kids each
weekend and our numbers
continue to climb.
If you would like to make a
donation, you can visit our
website to donate online or
send a check to the address
below.
Not Just for Kids continued from page 1.
Apparently, college food banks are becoming more common and are cropping up at
other
colleges
and universities
across the
Finding
An Agent
That’s Right
Forcountry.
You CNN wrote an article recently
about the increase in college campus food banks and cites the rising costs of
tuition and housing as one of the many factors. To read more, visit:
money.cnn.com/2014/11/25/pf/college/college-food-banks/
Kids Aid wants to make sure that all students are fueled so they spend energy on
learning, not on where they will get their next meal. We want to support all
students in their educational success and partnering with CMU is one more step in
the right direction.
Did you know?
You can support Kids Aid by shopping at
When you shop through AmazonSmile, Amazon will donate 0.5% of
your purchase to Kids Aid. Support us every time you shop!
Visit Smile.Amazon.com and choose Kids Aid as your charity
P.O. Box 2569
Grand Junction, CO 81502
(970) 712-2847
www.kidsaidcolorado.org