CLYDE – More than 230 children living in the Clyde-Green Springs Exempt Village School District will benefit from emergency snacks and quick meals to get them through the long Thanksgiving holiday thanks to the Little Fliers food program.

Children in the program come from Clyde and Green Springs elementary schools, according to Kelly Maynard, who now coordinates the program with her husband Sam.

For Thanksgiving, a group of volunteers including staff from both schools, First Missionary Church and teens from Clyde High School created small food packages for the long holiday weekend. These bags include a jar of peanut butter, a pouch of crackers, some macaroni and cheese, several packages of ramen noodles, then 10 snacks and 10 breakfast items.

Maynard said items were to include easy-to-make oatmeal and granola bars for breakfast, as well as snacks – popcorn, pretzels, Cheez-its, fruit and snacks with fruit.

Little Fliers also provides a weekly food parcel to all 230 children, giving them enough food to get them through a weekend when there may not be anything to eat at home.

Nason Dawson, a first grade teacher at Clyde Primary School, said children in the Little Fliers program love their weekly food parcels.

“They’re always excited about what’s in the bag,” Dawson said, as his students were out of the room. “Sometimes they will want to share with the children in the class. »

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Packs are delivered to schools every week

“Our weekly packs include two lunches or dinners, two breakfasts and two snacks,” said program organizer Kelly Maynard. “We also make holiday bags. These packs are aimed at getting kids through more days.”

The Little Fliers food program began five years ago when third-grade CES teacher Kristie Badick heard her students talking about not having enough to eat on the weekends.

In response to schoolchildren’s concerns, the idea for the program was launched into the community. Kelly and Sam Maynard, through their church, have agreed to lead the Clyde school children’s feeding program in 2019.

“The teachers heard the kids talking,” Sam Maynard said, noting that the teachers heard the kids saying they were running out of food. “Especially at the end of the month.” Sam, who is disabled following a stroke, said he volunteered to coordinate the program working with staff, teenagers and other volunteers and to deliver packages to schools each week.

“Initially we started with 60 students,” Kelly Maynard said. At the time, two teachers and the Maynards packed bags after school, but the schedule and food needs grew.

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Now, every week, bags of food are packed at First Missionary Church, less than a block from CES, by Sam and members of Clyde High School’s Teen Leadership group. Sam Maynard then delivers the food to elementary schools where staff members distribute the small bags to teachers.

Originally, the Little Fliers food program simply helped CES students by providing them with small parcels of food each Friday, when teachers put them in backpacks for the children to take home. At the end of the 2023-24 school year, 175 children were receiving assistance.

As the school district consolidates grades between Green Springs and Clyde elementary schools, more children have been added to the program in 2024-25. CES now houses preschool through second grade and third through fifth grade is housed at Green Springs Elementary School.

Two school volunteers deliver food parcels to teachers

Amy Kneisley, counselor at Green Springs Elementary School, said a letter was sent to parents at the beginning of this school year asking if there was a need for easy-to-prepare food in the home. Green Springs Elementary School, which has 460 students, received forms for 90 students.

With the program expanded to both elementary buildings, Little Fliers has 230 children receiving packs each week.

“Just today I added two to my list,” Kneisley said. “I add kids all the time.” Kneisley coordinates the program in his building in collaboration with the Maynards.

Kneisley and Stacie Ebersole, who coordinates the Little Fliers program at Clyde Elementary School, said the food bags were appreciated by the children. “I just know what the teachers are saying and the (children) are happy to receive it,” said Ebersole, the school librarian.

“I added a few names myself,” Ebersole said. At CES, bags are distributed on Thursdays so that preschoolers who do not go to school on Friday can receive their bags. Other teachers keep the bags until Friday.

“I keep them in my little locker in the library,” Ebersole said. “It’s just some food for little kids.”

School staff involved said that initially there was concern about the stigma of only certain children receiving the food bags. Teachers try to slip the bags into children’s backpacks and lockers.

Nason said about a third of his class benefits from Little Fliers and he hasn’t seen any signs of stigma for children participating in the program.

“Most kids understand that this is an activity their parents need to sign up for,” he said. At the start of the school year, some kids ask how their classmates get a bag, and then he gives the kids forms to take home for parents to see. Over time, all the children accept the program.

Little children want to share their food

“They’re always excited about what’s in the bag,” Nason said. “Sometimes they will want to share with the children in the class. »

Nason added: “They love the food. »

The program is not income-based and any child can participate. Nason acknowledged that some of the children in the program receive free or reduced-price lunches, but not all. “Children are good at not wasting anything,” he said.

Over the past year, the Maynards have reached out to the community. Kelly created a Facebook page for the program and shares information about donating to Little Fliers.

“On a weekly basis, we typically spend around $300,” Kelly said. The program receives cash and food donations to continue operating and has an annual budget of approximately $10,000.

For example, the First Presbyterian Church of Clyde donated peanut butter that children took home for Thanksgiving, she said.

Recently, the program also received several cash donations, including one from CES kids and promoters who raised $3,000 for Little Fliers.

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Sam Maynard said the community has continued to be generous and has been since the beginning.

“When we started, teachers donated $430,” Kelly said.

After a Clyde Exchange Club program where the Little Fliers were first discussed, Jeff Lemmon of M&M Electric told the Maynards to go to Lowe’s and get the shelves they needed to run the program at their church , Sam said.

Sam also praised CHS’s Teen Leadership Program, which has workers packing elementary school students’ suitcases each week.

“You have to tell them very little,” he said of the teenagers, noting that they seemed to quickly understand the program and how it worked.

The Maynards have worked to make the program more sustainable. Kelly has sought grants for the program and has already received one from the Stephenson Foundation.

Also this year, the Little Fliers food program was allowed to purchase food through the Northwest Ohio Food Pantry in Toledo, she said.

The Maynards have even received thank you cards from some of the children in the program, which keeps them dedicated to coordinating the program.

“I get some satisfaction from it,” Sam Maynard said.

Kelly estimated that most of the children benefiting from Little Fliers are average incomes and still need foods that are easy to prepare on the weekends.

For more information about Little Fliers, call Kelly at 419-307-8730 or Sam at 567-201-5133, or email [email protected].

[email protected]

419-334-1059

This article was originally published on Fremont News-Messenger: Little Fliers gives children enough to eat during holidays and weekends