Life Skills students collecting food for Blessings in a Bag

The public will have the chance to give to the Snyder ISD’s Blessings in a Bag program, which helps ensure that students have healthy food each weekend.
Donations will be accepted until 6 p.m. today at Walmart and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 3 at United Supermarkets.
Herb Spencer, who leads the program, said the number of students taking home food has grown since the downturn in the economy. Currently 200 students receive a sack of non-perishable food items each Friday during the school year. That is 100 more students than last year, Spencer said of the program, which began with only four students.
“Blessings went from a wonderful small thing and exploded into a wonderful big thing,” he said.
Spencer said the district’s food pantry is nearly empty and he does not want to see the program end because the Life Skills students who prepare the bags are also learning work skills.
“We are just trying to get to the end of the semester,” he said. “We did a couple of fundraisers over the fall semester, but we just didn’t get enough because the need has increased. We are adding five to six students a week. There’s just a need for it.”
Spencer said Blessings in a Bag operates under the umbrella of the Scurry County Ministerial Alliance, which spends up to $25,000 a year at the South Plains Food Bank in Lubbock.
“The biggest food need right now is Vienna sausages, Ramen Noodles and Capri Sun,” Spencer said. “This strictly runs on community donations. Anything the community can do is awesome.”
Donations may be dropped off at the high school office during school hours. The program also accepts monetary donations, which are used to purchase food.
Spencer said students are planning to hold a garage sale and other fundraisers to help fill the pantry. 
Spencer said any Snyder ISD student in kindergarten through 12th grade may register for the program through their school office.
To donate, email Spencer at hspencer@snyderisd.net or call him at (806) 200-1241.