The Wiscasset Lions Club voted to donate $500 to the “Feed our Scholars” program at its meeting March 6 at Ship’s Chow Hall. The club is also planning to hold a bake sale at Ames Supply next month to benefit the program.

The “Feed our Scholars” program is a backpack program being organized to provide children who are living with food insecurity with meals on the weekends.

Nancy Roby, a volunteer working to develop the program for Wiscasset, talked to Lions Club members at their meeting February 20. About 50 percent of Wiscasset’s students receive free and or reduced lunches at school, Roby said.

The plan is that each Friday afternoon during the school year, the students who are in need of help would be discreetly and confidentially provided a food-filled backpack to take home.   

In order to get the program started in Wiscasset, the committee promoting the “Feed Our Scholars” must raise $10,000. The Good Shepherd Food Bank will provide a local school with 40 backpacks every Friday for an entire school year for $10,000.

The goal is to raise $5,000 the first half of this year, which will allow the program to get started this fall, and the other $5,000 before January of 2014, to complete the school year.

The members of St Philip’s Episcopal Church, the Congregational Church and other volunteers are working to raise the funds necessary to get the program started.

Other municipalities running a backpack program include Gardiner, Bristol, Saco and Portland.

The Wiscasset Lions said they are committed to help get it started for students attending Wiscasset schools.

Charlotte Boynton can be reached at 207-844-4632 or cboynton@wiscassetnewspaper.com.