Journal-News.com

FAIRFIELD — More Butler County children will have access to nutritious food due to a $10,000 grant from Walmart.

The grant will enable Shared Harvest Foodbank, through the Back Pack program, to provide weekend snacks and easy-to-prepare meals for elementary school students at risk of skipping meals on weekends.

"The Walmart grant helps to ensure that we can assist more children in the nine public school districts and 54 elementary schools we now serve," said Tina Osso, Shared Harvest Foodbank executive director.

"In particular, we're focusing our attention on children 5 to 9 years old because of studies linking cognitive development, motivation and attentiveness with adequate nutrition."

Shared Harvest and Butler County Success launched the program in January 2007, beginning with 239 students in the Hamilton, Fairfield, New Miami and Lakota school districts. The program expanded to Middletown and Talawanda schools in the 2007-08 school year, helping more than 1,300 by the end of the year.

Shared Harvest officials applied for the Walmart grant after its Back Pack program was added to eight elementary schools in the Edgewood, Madison and Ross school districts this school year, Osso said. The program helps 1,200 children a week in 54 schools. Officials expect that to swell to 2,000 per week. The Walmart grant was obtained through Feeding America, formerly known as America's Second Harvest, the nation's food bank network.