Robbinsdale School District
Robbinsdale Area Schools Receive Local Government Innovation Award
Robbinsdale Area Schools, in partnership with many faith and community partners involved in the Weekend KidPack Program, is one of 18 to be recognized at the Local Government Innovation Awards Ceremony on January 16 at the Humphrey Institute. Out of 111 entries, the Weekend KidPack rose to the top 18 to receive the 2012 Innovation Award, recognizing a local unit of government for innovation and creativity.
Across Minnesota, 14% of all children live in poverty. Within Robbinsdale Area Schools, nearly 50% of all students qualify for free and reduced lunch, a key poverty indicator. Food is sometimes hard for these families to provide, and it affects children at school. Hunger attributes to poor school attendance, increased behavior reports and visits to the school nurse. Federal lunch programs provide breakfast, lunch and snacks for children during the school day. Food shelves provide for families outside of school. However, many times this still is not enough. Many children simply go hungry on the weekends.
Through a 2010 pilot started at Beautiful Savior in Plymouth, MN, a unique program to address childhood weekend hunger has now grown to all elementary schools within Robbinsdale Area Schools. KidPack’s innovation is the maximization of volunteerism and citizen participation in addressing a local need. During the 2011-2012 school year, over 18,000 KidPacks were delivered to Robbinsdale Area Schools students in six elementary schools and one preschool program. Over 1300 volunteer hours equated to an in-kind value of $30,000. Faith and community partners raise the funds to provide for the food items in the KidPacks.
Robbinsdale Area Schools is thankful for the many faith and community partners who have answered the call to address weekend hunger. For more information about Weekend KidPack, please contact Melodie Hanson, Robbinsdale Area Redesign, at 763-504-4981. Everyone is welcome to attend the Sixth Annual Local Government Innovation award ceremony on Wednesday, January 16, 2013 from 3:00 - p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (includes reception with light fare). Award ceremony will be held at the Cowles Auditorium, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 301 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55418.
The Local Government Innovation Awards were created to recognize and share creative strategies communities are embracing to answer the reality of an aging population, rising health care costs, and an increasing demand for government services -- all with reduced revenue. To learn more about the Local Government Innovation awards, please contact John Anderson at John@InCommons.org or 612-746-6721. To learn about additional awardees, please login to: http://challenges.incommons.org/lgia/winners
Robbinsdale Area Schools, in partnership with many faith and community partners involved in the Weekend KidPack Program, is one of 18 to be recognized at the Local Government Innovation Awards Ceremony on January 16 at the Humphrey Institute. Out of 111 entries, the Weekend KidPack rose to the top 18 to receive the 2012 Innovation Award, recognizing a local unit of government for innovation and creativity.
Across Minnesota, 14% of all children live in poverty. Within Robbinsdale Area Schools, nearly 50% of all students qualify for free and reduced lunch, a key poverty indicator. Food is sometimes hard for these families to provide, and it affects children at school. Hunger attributes to poor school attendance, increased behavior reports and visits to the school nurse. Federal lunch programs provide breakfast, lunch and snacks for children during the school day. Food shelves provide for families outside of school. However, many times this still is not enough. Many children simply go hungry on the weekends.
Through a 2010 pilot started at Beautiful Savior in Plymouth, MN, a unique program to address childhood weekend hunger has now grown to all elementary schools within Robbinsdale Area Schools. KidPack’s innovation is the maximization of volunteerism and citizen participation in addressing a local need. During the 2011-2012 school year, over 18,000 KidPacks were delivered to Robbinsdale Area Schools students in six elementary schools and one preschool program. Over 1300 volunteer hours equated to an in-kind value of $30,000. Faith and community partners raise the funds to provide for the food items in the KidPacks.
Robbinsdale Area Schools is thankful for the many faith and community partners who have answered the call to address weekend hunger. For more information about Weekend KidPack, please contact Melodie Hanson, Robbinsdale Area Redesign, at 763-504-4981. Everyone is welcome to attend the Sixth Annual Local Government Innovation award ceremony on Wednesday, January 16, 2013 from 3:00 - p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (includes reception with light fare). Award ceremony will be held at the Cowles Auditorium, Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 301 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55418.
The Local Government Innovation Awards were created to recognize and share creative strategies communities are embracing to answer the reality of an aging population, rising health care costs, and an increasing demand for government services -- all with reduced revenue. To learn more about the Local Government Innovation awards, please contact John Anderson at John@InCommons.org or 612-746-6721. To learn about additional awardees, please login to: http://challenges.incommons.org/lgia/winners
