Boca Helping Hands Provides Weekend Meals to Underserved Kids at 10 Schools
Underserved Schoolchildren in Palm Beach County
Boca Raton, FL – Boca Helping Hands will provide weekend meals to more than 1,100 underserved kids during the 2021-2022 academic year, including students from Boca Raton Elementary School, Boca Raton Community Middle School, Citrus Cove Elementary School, Coral Sunset Elementary School, Crosspointe Elementary School, Del Prado Elementary School, Hammock Pointe Elementary School, Orchard View Elementary School, Poinciana Elementary School, and S.D. Spady Elementary School.
The Boca Helping Hands (BHH) Backpacks program has provided weekend meals to local students for the past 10 years. Many of these students receive their primary weekday meals (free breakfast and free or reduced-cost lunches) at school. About 60% of schoolchildren in Palm Beach County are eligible to receive free or reduced-cost lunches.
While school was out over the summer, Boca Helping Hands continued to send home weekend meals with local kids. In recent weeks, 300 kids at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delray Beach and Boca Raton and 150 kids at the Achievement Centers for Children & Families received six meals, two shelf-stable milks, two juice boxes, and three snacks each Friday.
This past academic year, Boca Helping Hands received the Gold Award from The School District of Palm Beach County as the Non-for-Profit Business Partner of the year. Boca Helping Hands was nominated by Crosspointe Elementary in Boynton Beach, which began receiving weekend meals for 50 students three years ago but has seen a drastic increase in need during the pandemic.
“The impact BHH has had on our students and our community is unmatched,” said Courtney Roper, Parent Liaison at Crosspointe Elementary. “The kids look forward to receiving these boxes and often stop me to ask, ‘Is today the food box day?’”
“Boca Helping Hands are like silent angels who sneak in, deliver the boxes, and quietly go about their day,” she said.
For more information on how to support the program, visit BocaHelpingHands.org/BHHBackpacks. To volunteer and help pack weekend meals, visit BocaHelpingHands.org/Volunteer.
About Boca Helping Hands
Boca Helping Hands (BHH) is a community-based nonprofit that provides food, medical and financial assistance to meet basic human needs as well as education, job training and guidance to create self-sufficiency. Through its various programs, BHH assists over 27,000 people annually.
BHH distributes more than 80,000 pantry bags each year at five Palm Beach County locations and serves over 90,000 hot meals annually, six days per week. The organization expands access to affordable medical, dental and behavioral care through its partnerships with Genesis Community Health (serving clients at clinics in Boca Raton and Boynton Beach) and Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing Community Based Clinics (serving residents in West Palm Beach). In addition, BHH sends weekend meals home with food-insecure elementary school students via the BHH Backpacks Program and assists working families with the rising cost of childcare through the Children’s Assistance Program (CAP).
With an increased focus on client self-sufficiency, BHH awards scholarships for qualified candidates to attend accredited vocational training classes that prepare them for careers in the healthcare, information technology, construction, and transportation industries. BHH also offers free English as a Second Language (ESOL) classes, courses in nutrition, and other life skills. In addition, staff and volunteer mentors counsel the unemployed and underemployed in basic workplace skills and help them polish resumes and search for jobs.
Boca Helping Hands is a partner agency of The Town of Palm Beach United Way. Since 1945, the Town of Palm Beach United Way has been committed to improving lives and building strong communities throughout Palm Beach County by focusing on programs and priorities that promote education, health, and financial stability.
Charity Navigator named Boca Helping Hands a Four-Star Charity for the 15th consecutive year in June 2021. Boca Helping Hands is located at 1500 NW 1st Court, Boca Raton, FL 33432. For more information, please visit BocaHelpingHands.org.
