a community of great potential

 This is a column that will run in one of the newspapers I work for...

In my mind there is no doubt that we live in a community of great potential. We all know this community has seen it's fair share of ups and downs over the years.
What some of you may not be aware of is the people working everyday to make this community even better. 
Last Friday I had the opportunity to witness one of the great things going in this community. The Steven Hunter Hope Fund launched  it's power pack program to Northwest Elementary.
You could here the excitement in Mark Hunter's voice minutes before the program got started.
The purpose of the power pack club is to provide food for school aged children that might not have enough to eat over the weekend.
It's a sad to realize that even one child is forced to go without food for any reason, regardless of the circumstance.
On Friday there were 55 kids that received a weekends worth of food, because of this program. These kids will receive a weekends worth of food every Friday through the school year.
When the time came to give out the food Mark and Virgie Hunter watched with tears in their eyes as the children joyfully receive the food. I am confident to say I even shed a tear or two.
There was no denying what was started that day will change the lives of some needy students.
According to Freestore Foodbank of Cincinnati, "The Freestore Foodbank ended the 2010 fiscal year distributing 84,081 Power Packs to 55 sites. 2,320 children received Power Packs each week. The Freestore Foodbank is working to add new sites, with the goal of providing 130,000 Power packs to 3,500 children in 2011."
The Freestore Foodbank provides the food for the power pack program at a reduced cost. 
Steven's Power Pack is established in the Portsmouth and New Boston School Districts.
"Through this program we are helping 216 kids a week, we have very blessed though this process. It's amazing how God has a plan and if you listen to him and follow it, things happen. We feel very blessed to be here with the mini mohawks, I feel like out family has gotten a little bigger, today," Mark Hunter said.
According to www.stevenshopefund.org, "our review of statistics from the Ohio Department of Education reveal that students of the Portsmouth City School District, New Boston Local Schools, & Northwest Local Schools  are among the most vulnerable in Scioto County to suffer from the problems associated with hunger in the home.  The sad reality is that many of these children are going without proper nutrition or, in some cases, with no food at all over the weekend, their only meals being provided at breakfast or lunch through the school system."
This is one of a countless number of examples of the good things going on in this community. Because of these efforts and the efforts of other organizations that will make this community great again.

Wayne Allen may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 208, or wallen@heartlandpublications.com.