Rock Hill schools’ feeding program gets helping hand from Walmart

The Rock Hill Schools Education Foundation received a $50,000 grant from Walmart on Friday to support its “Back the Pack” program.

Back the Pack provides bags full of nonperishable food and snacks for Rock Hill students in need over the weekends when school meals aren’t available. Around 700 students receive assistance each week.

“If Back the Pack is successful, our schools are successful and our community is successful,” said Mikki Rentschler, foundation president

Back the Pack started in 2008, said Serena Williams, coordinator of community services for the school district.

In 2014, the Rock Hill Schools Foundation spent $58,000 on the program, according to its annual report. More than 4,000 students have benefited over the course of the program and students receiving food from Back the Pack have shown improved academic performance and attitude in school.

The foundation buys the food supplies in bulk. Teacher Dave Finley’s logistics students at the Applied Technology Center then assemble the bags of food, so students in the class are using “real inventory,” Finley said.

“My students are providing a service to the community,” he said.

At Friday’s check presentation, which was attended by several local and state representatives, Kurt Herkert, market manager with Walmart, said children need to be well-nourished in order to learn, so by helping fund Back the Pack, Walmart is really addressing two needs.

“We consider it our responsibility to make a positive impact in our community,” Herkert said.

This story was originally published March 27, 2015 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Rock Hill schools’ feeding program gets helping hand from Walmart."