Harvest Methodist pitches in to fight child hunger

TIFFANY TOMPKINS-CONDIE/ttompkins@bradenton.com
 Nancy Reed, Misty Pope, Ron Reed and Pat Smucker of Harvest United Methodist Church fill grocery sacks with nutritious snacks for their pack-a-sack ministry to help children in need at Samoset Elementary School.

 Harvest United Methodist Church and Samoset Elementary School are nearly 14 miles apart.

The church, with its 1,200 members, is located at 14305 Covenant Way, next door to Lakewood Ranch Country Club.

The school is at 3300 19th St. E., in a  struggling neighborhood, where 95 percent of the children are on free or reduced lunch.

You could say they are worlds apart.

Late last year, Harvest members learned that too many of the Samoset students arrive at school hungry. Some are technically homeless.

Volunteers pitched in to start a pack-a-sack ministry to slip a little extra food discretely into the backpacks of 60 to 80 children on Friday to help tide them over on weekends.

For more, see Saturday's Herald.