Blessings In A Backpack

By: Sandra Hughes
Topics: Field Notes

(CBS)

Sandra Hughes is a CBS News correspondent based in Los Angeles.

It all started with the idea of Stan Curtis at USA Harvest in Louisville, Kentucky. He launched the first "Blessings in a Backpack" program at a school in Louisville. The idea is to send children home with an extra backpack filled with food to sustain them over the weekend so they would come to school on Monday morning well fed and ready to focus and learn. It's now grown to seven cities and 20 more schools are ready to launch.

One of the schools already participating is in Los Angeles. We went to visit Normandie Avenue Elementary to see how the program is working here. Normandie sits in the heart of South Central L.A. It's a rough area where students know about need. Many children live in single parent homes; some are living in foster care. Most of the students qualify for the government's free lunch program at school and often that's the most nutritious meal they eat.

The school psychologist told me that Monday mornings used to have the highest tardiness rate. Kids were lethargic, they'd come to the nurses office just to ask for the crackers they knew she kept there. Teachers told me kids were falling asleep in class or just didn't focus.

That's why the school leapt at the chance to participate in the "Blessings in a Backpack" program. Now, Stan Curtis just needed to find a sponsor. That's when a special teacher got involved. Mr. Spencer is what the kids call him. His student's line up by rows named after the California colleges he hopes they will one day attend. Spencer Schumacher has high hopes for his fifth graders and he also has a friend who works for Hilary Duff. Well, after a few phone calls, the deal was done. The former star of "Lizzie Maguire" was set to sponsor the entire school! She even stopped by the school to stuff some backpacks and give away some guitars. The kids were thrilled.

Their parents are even more thrilled with Hilary Duff's legacy. Every weekend they get canned food, coupons to local stores and menus to help teach the children about nutrition. One fifth grade class even helps every week with loading the backpacks with the food and distributing them to the classrooms. They're learning about giving and receiving!

As one little girl told me before we left for the day "on an empty stomach you can't learn anything," which is a lesson that has stuck at Normandie Avenue Elementary. Since the program started last January, test scores have gone up 33 points and attendance has increased, too. Tardiness has gone on Monday morning -- and even more important, according to the teachers and staff, is the general increase in parent involvement in the school.