Backpack meals for the weekend are one of the major programs of Help 4 Kids. Before classes are dismissed on Fridays, individual servings of food are placed in the backpacks of children who otherwise might have little or nothing to eat until Monday at school. The food includes oatmeal, soup, Pop Tarts, mac and cheese and juice. Help 4 Kids is now providing 1,845 weekend meals at 14 schools, Mains says. Just prior to the start of school, she anticipated 1,000 meals a week, but the number is up with the addition of two schools.
A stunning number of Horry County Schools youngsters live in poverty, with 612 identified as homeless, according to Horry County Schools data. Over the summer, Help 4 Kids provided meals for 900 children.
For 10 years, Help 4 Kids operated as part of SOS Health Care but broke away, and since 2009 Help 4 Kids has been a community partner of the United Way of Horry County. Help 4 Kids has a $20,000 allocation from United Way, toward an overall budget of $250,000.
Mains is proud of the dedicated volunteers, about 100, many of whom have been with her for years. No one receives a salary or reimbursement for gasoline or other expenses.
"We're always in need of volunteers and snack supplies," individual servings for those backpack meals. By the way, the food is slipped into the backpacks when the children are out of the classroom, part of Mains' goal of having her kids in school but not feeling different. Whether financial assistance is from church groups, civic clubs or individuals, "we use what we get. We always get enough to do what we need to do. We have a lot of faith."