Qwest Foundation Provides Weekend Nutrition for Homeless Students

Adams 14 will receive $5,500 in Qwest Foundation funding to provide homeless students with healthy food during weekends. The initiative, coordinated through the Colorado Department of Education, will provide homeless students in school districts across the state with nutritious, non-perishable food during the weekends (when free breakfast and lunch is not available) so students return to school the following Monday prepared to learn.

This award builds upon an existing weekend backpack program, conducted through before and after school programs at Central and Kemp Elementary Schools. That initiative, which benefited from a $4,000 grant the City of Commerce City made to an area food bank, has supported the purchase of healthy food and the distribution of 25 backpacks of food to students identified as in need at the end of each week. Those funds will run out soon, however, and the Qwest funding will provide a much-needed source of relief for homeless students who do not have access to adequate nutrition.

According to the Colorado Department of Education, the number of homeless students across Colorado rose from 12,302 during the 2007-08 school year to 15,800 during the 2008-09 year. The Qwest Foundation donated $50,000 to support this program with the United Way providing matching grants in five of the nine recipient districts.