Feature 1

Paying it forward
Posted: 4/26/2010

By James Mulcahy

Christy Meredith only longs for Pop-Tarts, and maybe a few cans of Vienna sausages, and perhaps some Rice Krispie Treats.

Only she needs lots of them, and she needs them now.

Meredith is coordinator of the Shelby County Backpack Project Inc., which feeds hundreds of children every weekend who would probably otherwise go hungry.

Meredith spends about $1,300 each week during the school year filling 278 backpacks with entrees like soup or canned spaghetti, breakfast items, snacks, juice boxes and packaged desserts. She's looking for donations of food, cash or time to help with the massive program.

She started the program at Southside Elementary four years ago.

"I was kind of naive at first -- I didn't know that kids were going hungry," she said. "Once I got going on it, we had 30 kids. Then I thought, we could add other schools. It's grown from 30 to 278 kids who are the neediest of the needy."

The project depends on each school's Family Resource officer for a list of names, based on need.

"Kids are identified that don't have food at home," she said.

Although Meredith is not seeking a pat on the back for what she does, Southside Family Resource Director Beth Cathcart said Meredith deserves any and all accolades.

"She's the one who does all the work," Cathcart said. Meredith raises the funds, collects the food, helps pack the backpacks, recruits other helpers, and delivers the full packs to schools.

Her motivation?

"My little girl was really sick as a baby; we didn't think she was going to make it," Meredith said. "You'd never know by looking at her now (age 7). I thought this is one way I could give back. I thought God told me, 'This is what you need to do.' "

"It's 'pay it forward,' " Cathcart said.

One man, Meredith said, is vital to the project. Tom McGinnis donates the use of an empty house on Main Street for storing and packing the backpacks.

"Tom just lets us use it," she said. "He's a Godsend. He was fixing it up, and he stopped so we could use it as long as we needed to. He's got such a big heart. Without him, there would be no Backpack Program."

Cathcart said the children appreciate the food.

"Those kids are so happy to get those bags of food. They really feel like they're contributing to their families."

Meredith agreed.

"They want to make sure their brothers and sisters are taken care of before they're taken care of," she said. "They're very generous with what they have."

One recipient, 11-year-old Angela, said she shares her food with her sister and two brothers -- "after I take out what I like." Her favorites are Campbell's soups and peanut butter on crackers.

The need for food or monetary donations is ongoing, Meredith said, but it's particularly vital during the down economic time.

"It's scary because there are some weeks we don't have enough food," she said. "God's never let me down, but there are weeks it is stressful."

She started Adopt a Backpacker this year, hoping to get $150 contributions to feed one child for a year.

"My goal is to get at least one child to give back to the community," she said. "I think it makes a big difference at this age to know that somebody actually cares."

"To see their faces when they get the backpacks," Meredith said, grinning. "I feel like they're all my babies."