Retired Deer Lakes teacher Carol McCaskey was tired of seeing students come to school with a stomachache.
“Us teachers knew the truth. We knew it was because they didn’t have food at home,” said McCaskey, who spent nearly three decades at East Union Intermediate Center and, before that, several years at the Highlands and Freeport Area school districts.
She launched a weekend food bag program in 2013 to help feed students away from school. That was nearly a decade after retiring as an educator because the thought of hungry children nagged at her.
“It was the little kids who I was most worried about,” the West Deer resident said.
This week, she was awarded a $25,000 grant from Olympus Energy to sustain her operation in the coming years.
“It’s perfect timing because I was hurting for program money this year,” said McCaskey, who packs food bags from her basement along East Union Road.
The grant will help provide the 210 bags she distributes each week, filled with a dozen items such as cereal, ravioli, fruit cups and applesauce.
State Sen. Lindsey Williams, whose district includes Deer Lakes communities, is a strong advocate for free meals in state schools.
Backed by research that shows hunger in school can impact academics and behavior, Williams is lobbying for a Universal Lunch Program — No Student Should Go Hungry — that would provide free school meals to all students regardless of economic status.
“School breakfast and lunch are often the only meals that students can rely on,” she said. “Too many students home for weekends and vacations face food insecurity, alongside their younger siblings and the rest of their families.
“I’m so grateful to the phenomenal educators we have at Deer Lakes who recognize hunger as a problem and find creative solutions.”
According to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, nearly 17% of children in Allegheny County don’t have consistent access to food.
In 2022, then-Gov. Tom Wolf initiated a program to continue a pandemic initiative that served free breakfasts to the state’s 1.7 million public school students.
Gov. Josh Shapiro has maintained the policy.
In September, he said, “As I’ve traveled across Pennsylvania, one message has come through loud and clear: Too many kids are coming to school hungry.
“We all know that students can’t focus or learn when their stomachs are empty. It’s impossible to expect them to grasp math, science or English if they haven’t had a meal.”
Williams said it’s time for the Legislature “to step up and do our part to systemically reduce childhood hunger” by providing breakfast and lunch to all students every day.
The average cost for a hot meal in school is about $3.55 a day, according to the state Department of Education.
Eight states offer universal lunches: California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Vermont.
Deer Lakes Superintendent Janell Logue-Belden said the wellness of every child begins with meeting basic needs.
“Mrs. McCaskey has always shown a tremendous commitment to students in our school community,” Logue-Belden said. “What she has accomplished for more than a decade through the Deer Lakes backpack program is incredible. It is equally wonderful and inspiring that our school community continuously comes together to provide nutritious meals for our students in need.”
Before the boost from Olympus Energy, McCaskey kept the program afloat by donations from the community and the West Deer Food Bank, where she volunteers.
She estimates it costs about $800 a week to pack the bags. There are no income guidelines for families to participate. Students who have younger siblings at home, who are not yet school-age, can take two bags each weekend.
“Things could be going on in their house that we don’t know about,” McCaskey said. “This is about feeding people who need it.”
The grant gives her wiggle room to buy some extras that kids are sure to enjoy.
“If a parent is using money carefully, they’re not buying fruit snacks or juice boxes,” McCaskey said. “But the kids should have what other kids have, so I like to put that kind of stuff in there for them.”