It's a fight to end hunger and one South Florida teacher is meeting the challenge head on.
When Elaine Heyler realized many of her students do not get nutritious meals at home, she wanted to fight back.
So Heyler started a program -- "Blessings in a Backpack" -- and it's meeting a critical need.
Students bring backpacks to school every day, but they're usually filled with papers, pens, and pencils.
At Coral Springs Middle, you'll find bags filled with other items, too.
"Some drinks, some energy bars," Heyler pointed out.
She brought the national program to her school after realizing a lot of her students go hungry.
"Parents are working and they're not at home because they need to keep two jobs, [some are] single parents. Some kids have no food," Heyler said.
Student leaders assemble the bags every week.
"We first start with the breakfast. We take a Pop Tart," said 8th grader Alexandra Kales while preparing to organize the food.
"We get gift cards. We get it at Publix and Wal-Mart. We bring it in. We pack it in the backpacks and every Friday, the kids come and pick them up," explained 8th grader Matthew Mulinari.
Participants say what really makes this worth it is that it's students helping students.
"I think they feel grateful. There's a friend in need, someone's there to help you through the tough times or not," Kales said.
"The kids were off for three days a couple of weeks ago and the kids came to me and said 'are we still going to get our backpacks and remember it's a three-day weekend. Does that mean we get more food?'" Heyler explained.
That shows her the program is meeting a need. It's why they're counting the blessings and hoping they multiply.
"I feel like I'm a better person when I help people," Kales added.
The program is always in need of food donations and gift cards to buy non-perishable items. To donate, email Elaine.heyler@browardschools.com.
Follow Brent Solomon on Twitter at @solomonreports.
