A small army of volunteers pack bags at Wawasee High School.

SYRACUSE — Wednesday evening, March 18, around 340 bags with food items for students to eat during the weekend were packed at Wawasee High School. These will be at meal pickup locations Thursday as students come to pick up breakfasts and lunches.

This is an expansion of the Boomerang Backpack program that takes place throughout the school year where bags are packed each week for students at elementary schools in the Wawasee Community School Corporation to take home during the weekend.

Susan Cripe, a community volunteer who oversees the Boomerang Backpack program at Wawasee, said, “The Boomerang Backpack program runs 100% on donations. All donations go to cover the cost of the food. We are blessed by the community support!”

Vince Beasley, director of career and technical education at Wawasee High School, who is Wawasee’s Boomerang Backpack point person, said when school is in session, the bags are packed each Wednesday by students in Wawasee High School’s Jobs for America’s Graduates program. Bags are then delivered to each elementary school and sent home Fridays with students qualifying for free or reduced price lunches. He noted while schools are closed because of COVID-19, bags will continue to be packed by adult volunteers and be at meal pickup locations Thursdays.

If you want to donate to Wawasee’s Boomerang Backpack program, you can mail a check made out to Boomerang Backpack to Wawasee High School, 1 Warrior Path, Bldg. 1, Syracuse, Indiana 46567, or you can go online to www.boomerangbackpacks.org/donate1.html and choose Wawasee when completing your information.