During the week of April 17, all five Elkhorn middle schools came together to help alleviate childhood hunger.
Their goal was to raise $25,000 for Food Bank for the Heartland’s BackPack Program — which provides weekend meals to children in 63 counties across Nebraska and western Iowa.
Each week during the school year, 8,381 packs of nutritious food are distributed to more than 250 schools in 112 school districts. In portions of the Food Bank’s rural service area, the BackPack Program is the only food assistance option for food-insecure residents.
In one week, the students topped their goal, raising $26,188. Woodhouse Auto Family will match the funds collar-to-dollar, bringing the grand total to $52,376. The fundraiser will allow the Food Bank to sponsor 319 elementary students in the BackPack Program.
In 2021, Sophia Franzleubbers — now an eighth grader at…