Blessings in Backpacks
Dear Editor: As the holiday season approaches, I am writing to inform you of a new program and ask you to consider a donation.
“Blessings in a Backpack” is a nationwide program which provides children enrolled in the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program with kid-friendly food to take home over the weekend. The Sitka School District has agreed to partner with this program. This school year 33.5 percent of enrolled students receive the Free and Reduced Lunch Program which translates to 480 children. These children receive lunch, and sometimes breakfast, at school but can be facing hunger over the weekend. Thanks to local volunteers and Keet Gooshi Heen staff, what started as a good idea back in March, has become a successful program to help children avoid hunger over the weekend. Blessings in a Backpack is currently feeding 50 children at KGH thanks to the generosity of many people and businesses.
To date we have successfully raised a little over $4,000, which almost feeds 50 children for 36 weekends during the school year. Unfortunately, the price of food is ever increasing and we still need approximately $800 this school year. A bag of food each weekend costs $3; $12 will feed a child for a month of weekends and $60 will allow one child to receive a bag of food every weekend from January to the end of the school year.
The program is run solely by volunteers, so 100 percent of the tax deductible donation goes toward food in Sitka.
I would like to thank everyone who has donated with their pocketbook and/or with their time so far. Both types of donations are needed and welcome. Thank you to local businesses and organizations, such as the Juneau Walmart, Easter Group, Sea Mart Quality Foods, Alaska Native Sisterhood, Arrowhead Transfer, Sitka Education Association and the Party Ranch, for their generous donations in support of this program. Many individuals have also generously donated.
Please contact me at 747-8710 if you wish to donate or visit the website www.blessingsinabackpack.org and donate on line. Be sure and enter Sitka Schools on the comment line to ensure your donation benefits our school district. And thank you so much.
Kathy O’Gara, Emma Falvey and family, Blessings in a Backpack Coordinators, Sitka
Fish to Schools
Dear Editor: Sitka’s Fish to Schools program offers children and youths an amazing health benefit – access to one more fish meal per month.
Eating fish regularly provides not only a low-fat source of protein but also omega-3 fatty acids. These two nutrients help with children’s growth and development as well as improve immune function and brain health. Additionally, there is emerging research showing omega-3 fatty acids fundamental influence on cognitive function in young healthy individuals.
So encourage your kids to participate in the monthly fish meals offered at Keet Goshi Heen elementary, Blatchley Middle School and Pacific High School. Brains on fish have a mental edge!
Lisa Sadleir-Hart, MPH, RD, CHES
Health and Nutrition Educator
Veterans Brunch
Dear Editor: I would like to thank all the people involved with the Veterans Day brunch and program at the Sitka Elks Lodge. Helping with the planning of the event were Carol Hitchcock, Mindy Lowrance and Denise Hodnett. Decorations, prizes and giveaways were organized by Karen Youngblood, Ricardo Morales, Denise Hodnett and Ricco Mulligan. The emcee for the day was Keith Perkins, and cooks, Jo Pepper, Kat Richards, Pat Eliason, Carol Hitchcock. Also thanks to Sitka Daily Sentinel for the PSAs and Shirley Burkhart for calling and announcing the event on Problem Corner.
And a big thank you to the Sitka Area Petty Chief Officers, as they helped with food, cooking, setting up the dining room, decorating, participating in the program, presenting the colors, serving and clean up. And most of all, what an honor to serve our Veteran’s and listen to their stories. I thank you for coming and sharing. I look forward to the event again next year.
Judi Blankenship
Americanism Chairman
Sitka Elks Lodge 1662 and
Sitka Emblem Club 142
Recycling Tip
Dear Editor: Today’s tip from your recycling workers at Community Schools:
Please have your plastics already sorted – 1, 2 and 5 only – when you arrive at the recycling center.
If you carry your sorted items in a plastic bag, remove them from the bag before depositing them in the proper bin. In the event you deposit unsorted and bagged plastic, the entire bag will probably be discarded. Properly sorted plastic in a bag will be recycled but will delay the process.
In all cases, bags will not be recycled unless they carry a clearly visible number. Best plan is to avoid plastic bags entirely. That’s the “reduce” part of “reduce-reuse-recycle.”
Thanks for recycling in Sitka.
Roger Bleier,
Sitka Recycling Center
Emblem Club Thanks
Dear Editor: On behalf of the Marine Corps League of Sitka, Robert B. Johnstone Detachment, I wish to convey a sincere appreciation and thank you to the Sitka Emblem Club.
The decoration in the Elks Lodge for the Marine Corps’ 237th birthday celebration certainly made the occasion festive and meaningful. Not only did the club decorate the venue, they also bought and delivered the birthday cake that is part of any birthday gathering but an especially significant part of the Corps’ tradition. We appreciate the time, resources and effort exerted to celebrate this very special day in our Marine Corps history.
Bernie P. Gurule,
USMC L. Commandant,
Marine Corps League of Sitka
Robert B. Johnstone Detachment
Tribal Council Election
Dear Editor: I would like to thank everyone who voted in the 2012 Sitka Tribal Council election. With chairman Woody Widmark’s 24 years of experience on the council, it will be difficult to fill his shoes. However, I will try my best, and it will be an honor to serve as your tribal chairman.
I would also like to congratulate the other candidates who were elected or re-elected: Rachel Moreno, Mike Miller, Wilbur Brown and Lillian Feldpausch. And many thanks to those who supported us by making phone calls, talking to others, displaying signs for us, and making campaign donations. We had a meet and greet reception on Nov. 10 at the ANB Hall. Many thanks to those who helped set up, cook meals and desserts, and clean up.
The results of the election were quite astounding. The result shows that tribal citizens care about the direction of the tribe. Your message was heard loud and clear, and I commit to leading the tribe forward and to making sure important decisions – including any decision affecting your jobs and health care – are made with input from tribal citizens.
While I commit to helping the tribe move in a positive direction that will help all tribal citizens, significant budget cuts may be looming, and the Tribal Council will soon have to make some difficult decisions. I urge all tribal citizens to attend Tribal Council meetings which are held on the first and third Wednesday of each month. Schedule changes will be published in local media when the need arises.
As tribal chairman, I also commit to keeping close tabs on the tribe’s operation sand will be happy to hear any concerns that tribal citizens may have. Please e-mail any concerns you may have to mbaines95@gmail.com. I will publish an official tribe e-mail address and phone number after they are set up.
Michael Baines, Sitka
