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Lending a Helping Hand Story: Devontre Bonnor & Photos: Rhys Pollock
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or the past two years, Shorter University’s baseball team has partnered with local elementary schools to help provide assistance for students in need. Through a program called The Backpack Buddies, the team helps provide meals to students at Anna K. Davis Elementary and North Heights Elementary. Most of the students who benefit from this program are on free or reduced cost lunches at school due to low or limited family income. While these students get a good lunch at school, their food at home may be quite limited or nonexistent at times, especially on weekends. Since food and nutrition are so closely linked with the ability to learn, the team wants to make sure students have nutritious meals over the weekend so they are ready to learn when they arrive at school on Monday. For this reason, the Backpack Buddies Program was created. This program provides participating students with a small bag of food each Friday afternoon that is placed in their book bag. There is no cost for the participant’s family. Partnering with a local food bank, the Shorter
baseball team spends time three days per week picking up food, packing it, and delivering it to both elementary schools. What makes the program more genuine is the fact that the baseball team personally delivers the packaged lunches to the schools. Even though the team comes to the school, they are not able to interact with the students who are still in the classroom learning. However, the staff and teachers convey their thanks and appreciation for the team’s dedication to helping these children. Another reason this is so impactful is because the students know that the people who care for them are student-athletes. It gives the students someone to look up to. Shorter baseball players also benefit. Junior Banks Woodley said, “It means a lot to all of the guys on the team because we know we are helping kids receive meals over the weekends that they normally wouldn’t be able to have.” The Backpack Buddies program is a way for Shorter baseball players to give back to the community and show what it means to “Transform Lives Through Christ.”
“It means a lot to all of the guys on the team because we know we are helping kids receive meals over the weekends that they normally wouldn’t be able to have.” - Banks Woodley
