It is the 15th year we have been host to a few elementary students in a tutoring program called Snacks and Backpacks. We meet on Mondays from 1 to 3 p.m. when Fairfax County elementary schools close early for teachers’ planning.

Most of our students come from Bonnie Brae and Fairview Elementary Schools. Several are from families who do not speak English at home. Others come because they like the club atmosphere
for learning.

Our tutors are volunteers willing to tutor and befriend youngsters. We are blessed to have a high school volunteer, too, and occasionally a youth who was in the program in the past comes to help.

Snacks and Backpacks meets at BPC in the lower level. We start with a snack and then move on to homework. After this, the children choose projects, computers, or games as time allows. If you visit the church Monday afternoons, you will occasionally encounter a tutor helping a
child somewhere away from the group distractions or you might simply hear the sounds of busy children!

In the second semester, we enjoy support from the congregation for our sponsored Read-to-Feed program that benefits Heifer International and encourages the students to read. In this program, people from BPC sign up to provide a small financial reward and/or notes of
encouragement to an assigned child. The students enjoy the notes from secret friends from the congregation (sponsors use pseudonyms) and also like to see their sponsorship money mounting up over the semester.

At the end of our Snacks and Backpacks year, the child chooses which animal (or part thereof) they would like to give to a needy family and their orders are sent to Heifer International. Last year, the children earned $900 for Heifer International altogether and chose to give 14 rabbits, 1 llama, 4 hives of honeybees, 4 flocks of ducks and geese, 2 flocks of chicks, some tree seedlings, one-fourth of a goat, one-sixth of a sheep, and onetwelfth of a pig.

Snacks and Backpacks tutors find that one-on-one help and friendship can change the lives of students. This program exists simply to provide adult support for children: some make great strides in their a c a d e m i c work; others find we offer stability during the transitions they have to make.

We support children of all religious persuasions providing academic interactions to enrich their
school experiences. The tutors also provide off-site prayer support for the children. This is often needed, especially when some of our students have been ill or have been forced to move because of financial problems in their families.

If you can help, we are always looking for regular and substitute tutors. The number of children we serve depends on the number of volunteers. Contact Snacks & Backpacks Director Cathey
Parker if you can offer help on Mondays. Even if you cannot offer time, you can sponsor a child for the Read-to-Feed program for Heifer International. Please sign up for this in January on the narthex Ministry Board sponsorship list.