Crunchy or creamy, grape or strawberry — whatever the preference, pairing peanut butter and jelly with bread slices is a lunchbox favorite.
Athens County Children Services offered PB&J sandwich supplies to low income families for its seventh-annual Peanut Butter and Jelly Project, which ran from June 12 until July 31.
The Athens County students who qualify for two free meals, breakfast and lunch, during the school year, aren’t offered those once summer begins. Kerri Shaw, field education instructor in the Department of Social and Public Health at Ohio University, met with folks from the Athens County Food Pantry, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and Athens County Children Services, as well as university faculty, to discuss ways to address the problem.
The project relies on donations, which are collected throughout the year to prepare for the summer rush.
Volunteers and Athens County Children Services school outreach caseworkers gather jars of peanut butter and jelly, loaves of bread and money to purchase products during the summer months.
The final products are distributed every Thursday of the summer to every child in low income families who arrive at one of the seven distribution centers located in Athens County’s five school districts.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are easy to make, kids can prepare the sandwiches themselves and the sandwiches don’t require a refrigerator, said Shaw, who started the program in 2007.
“It resonates with everyone, because we all ate it as kids and loved it,” she said, who started the program when she was a social worker at Athens County Children Services and was placed at Trimble Elementary-Middle School. “I believe this is part of the reason it is successful.”
Though Shaw left Athens County Children Services in 2011, the project has continued to expand. The original goal was to reach 75 to 100 children each week. This year, 3,476 children received donations.
A variety of programs have been organized to raise money for the project such as the third annual 5K/10K race organized by Athens Professionals for Philanthropy and schools partnering with libraries to provide children with food and books.
At one point, more than 90 families were gathered at the Coolville Public Library, said Mary Mitchell, principal of Coolville Elementary School.
“I think it’s going to get interesting, because we are going to find that partnering with different places, like the library, is going to be an avenue more and more distribution centers pursue,” she said.
Because volunteers wanted to keep the program running, some locations continued to distribute food until classes began on August 18.
“The volunteer base and community support grows every year, and we are hoping to expand to more sites every summer,” said Robin Webb, public relations and event coordinator for the Athens County Children Services.
Donations to the PB&J Project can be made throughout the year, though they won’t be distributed until next summer, but school supplies are also collected during the school year and are distributed as needed. PB&J donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 1046 Athens, Ohio 45701 or dropped off at 10 Stony Brook Dr.
School supply donations can also be dropped off at the Hampton Inn, 986 E. State St., 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information call 740.593.5600.
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How To Donate
School supplies and peanut butter and jelly are also collected during the school year and are distributed as needed.
