Lighthouse Assembly of God: 'Backpack Buddy Club'

CBN.com  Kayla Brown is a teacher at Bowie Elementary School in Bowie, Texas. She noticed that several of her students were coming to school hungry, and it affected their performance in the classroom.

Kayla: “They were irritable, they didn’t want to learn.  They seemed to be out of control, the ones that I encountered.”

Kayla asked her pastor if their church would give free food to the children.

Pastor: “We understood that it would be not just touching kids, but it would be touching families, and that’s what we wanted to do, and we’ve seen that happen through this project.”

The project is called “Backpack Buddy Club”.

Kayla: “Most of these children are on free or reduced lunches so they get to eat during the school day.  Then it’s on Friday afternoon that they have to wait all the way until Monday before they get to have food.”

Pastor: “That’s what the program is for, to help assist them with food over the weekend.”

Local businesses donate food in addition to donations from church members.

The program has been so successful that over 600 schools across the country have copied the program. 

And the children love it.

Kayla: “It’s amazing their smiles, they’re very thankful. They’ll say thank you.”

Pastor: “I get a lot of feedback from parents saying we wouldn’t have made it without this.”

And Kayla has made quite a name for herself, with the kids anyway. 

Kayla: “They call me the bag lady.  They say, ‘oh, there’s Mrs. Brown.  She’s the bag lady.’”

At the end of the school year, all of the children are invited to a party at the church.

But this time, they get more than food.

Kayla: “I really can’t bring Bibles to the school so I bring the kids to the Bibles.”

Pastor: “It’s amazing what God will do when he gets hold of a progam.”

For their Backpack Buddy Club, The 700 Club congratulates the Lighthouse Assembly of God, of Bowie, Texas, chosen as America’s Church of The Week.