Andrea:
Welcome to Live Wire, a podcast powered by Kosciusko REMC. We are a member-owned and locally-operated cooperative that supplies electricity to portions of Kosciusko, Fulton, Wabash, and Whitley Counties here in Northern Indiana. Live Wire is a program where we come together to discuss co-op matters, energy community topics, and to communicate with KREMC members. I'm your host, Andrea Melton.
We're in the studio, excited to be back with the first episode of Live Wire for the year 2024. And today, I have with me Stavrani Christos, local director of Boomerang Backpacks, as well as Mallika Klingaman, who is a board member and volunteer also with Boomerang Backpacks. Boomerang Backpacks was a recipient of an Operation Round Up grant. For those who might not know, Operation Round Up is a wonderful program where KREMC rounds up members' electric bills to the next dollar. All of that change is then put into a fund, facilitated, and overseen by the Kosciusko County Community Foundation. Four times a year, a committee reviews Operation Round Up grant applications from local organizations, and the funds are distributed among some of those applicants. It's a program that has given and continues to impact our community in such extraordinary ways and is truly reflective of the amazing cooperative spirit that we have in our community. Mallika, thank you so much for coming in to talk with us.

Mallika:
Thank you for having me. It's a privilege.

Andrea:
So let's get started by getting an overview of Boomerang Backpacks. Can you tell me about the mission behind your organization?

Mallika:
Boomerang Backpacks was started several years ago, and it was started, basically, as a grassroots program to serve kids who were at risk, weren't getting enough food at home, and it started, initially, with a few schools, and has now expanded to serving over 3000 students all over Indiana. We have a national presence as well. We're still hopefully expanding, but primarily serve this area. And Kosciusko County is one of the biggest recipients of Boomerang Backpacks, and we serve over 40 elementary schools. And currently, we do just operate within elementary schools, and we are a weekend food provision program, so we send home backpacks filled... Well, they're not actually backpacks. The little plastic bags filled with food for students to take home for the weekend, so they have enough food and nutrition. We feel like nutrition is such a big part of a student's education and learning ability, so that's the need that we try to meet as an organization.

Andrea:
That's really wonderful. I know people are surprised sometimes to consider that there is a food scarcity among families and our community more so than you might think. Some people struggle, and nutrition is so important for all of us, and especially for kids who are learning and going to school every day. Stavrani, do you have any examples or data of how Boomerang Backpacks has impacted families and kids who are struggling with food? Or statistics, or numbers, anything like that?

Stavrani:
Sure. Just to give you some perspective regarding that, last year we ended the program with 540 students, and currently we are packing backpacks for 714 students each and every week. So even...

Andrea:
Significant increase.

Stavrani:
Significant increase. So that's ending in May, two weeks before the school year ended in May, then starting again mid-September, so it was over those months that the increase... I was blown away by it at first.
I just could not believe... I expected increase, but not that much increase. So it's interesting, I always like to hear stories from the students or about the students that received the backpacks. And one of them in speaking to the great need is that siblings might be in elementary school, but they might have other siblings in middle school or high school where they're in the same family and they require assistance for food. And I've even heard some of the bus drivers come back to me and tell me that as soon as those kids get on the school bus on Friday afternoons, they find so many wrappers of food because those kids want to hurry up and eat that food before they get home so they don't have to share it with their siblings. Not in a negative way, but because the need is just... It's so great.
And I think a lot of people don't understand that. It's really been put into perspective for me when I'll have our truancy officer, Daisy Holland, she has come to me a few times saying, "Hey, I know that this student might not be in elementary school, but they're part of the family and the NIPSCO has been turned off, or the water has been turned off. Is there any way that we can help and support that family?" And I don't turn away when there's extra assistance, ask for that. I won't turn that away. Absolutely. We'll provide for Warsaw Community schools family, but it's just huge. And even being in the high school supporting Boomerang. But having the students come back from summer break, they're not skinnier because they choose to be... Because there's such a great need for food. And especially with... We see an increase in prices in our own grocery bills each and every week.
Or they'll come to me, "Hey, do you have any food?" Or randomly throughout the day. We even have a food pantry at the high school. A lot of people ask me, "why don't you provide support for high school students?" The reason is because in the beginning when Boomerang first came to Kosciusko County, the need was greater for the elementary school age students, because there are resources available for high school and middle school. We have a food pantry at the high school. We can get them access to food easier than the elementary school kids, but it's huge. It's really huge. And it's sad too, because I want to help them more than just eight items of food per week that are non-perishable, but that's all we can do to support them right now.

Andrea:
Absolutely. Every bit helps. And just that consistent help that they're getting and knowing that somebody is looking out for them and giving them that extra boost in that way, I think is probably helpful too. Other than just the nutrition of the food itself. So Boomerang Backpacks did recently receive an Operation Roundup grant. Can you share how those grant funds are utilized, how that is impacting your organization and its initiatives?

Mallika:
All our grants go directly towards getting the food for our students and children in need. Very little goes towards operation costs. It costs about $110 a year to get those backpacks ready and packed for the students. So most of those... The funds, I'm going to have to get back to you about the specifics on how much it goes to operation costs, but I believe it's minimal. Most of it goes directly to purchasing food, purchasing bags, and actually towards providing that food for students in need.

Andrea:
Wonderful. Obviously the volunteers help keep those overhead costs, operating costs down. Tell me more about the volunteers too.

Mallika:
So, we are a volunteer-run program. All our board members are volunteers. All our delivery people are volunteers as well as packers in schools. The volunteers sign up to, either do deliveries, or... I'm sure in some schools they will let you come in and actually help pack those bags as well. But my role as a volunteer is, I coordinate all the volunteers for our elementary school for Jefferson, and we have a signup genius, where we all go in and sign up for one pick up and delivery. So I go in, pick up the totes that are packed by volunteers at our high school, and get them loaded up, take them to Jefferson and hand out the bags to each classroom. We have the names of students that are on our Boomerang Backpacks list, and they're handed out and placed in front of every classroom. And we do want to protect the privacy of every student, so we do try to keep that. We don't share that information publicly, and the teachers discreetly hand those bags to the students, and they get to take them home.

Andrea:
Awesome. I bet those kids are really excited by that. I bet it's fun to see what sort of goodies are in there and have that be part of their weekly routine. What kind of items and food are being put into the bags?

Stavrani:
So each week we put eight items in the bags and they consist of three breakfast items, whether that be cereal, oatmeal, pop tarts, some sort of NutriGrain, or bar. We do a fruit, a juice, a protein, and that consists of... We do a Sunbutter for nut allergies. So we'll do some sort of a Sunbutter or jerky. We'll do mac and cheese hummus, things that are non-perishable. We'll do a chip or pretzel to go along with the protein if needed, like pretzels with the Sunbutter, then we do a fun snack, whether that be a fruit snack or Scooby-Doo snack, cinnamon sticks, something fun for them.
Then we also... When we have a holiday break or fall break or spring break, we'll do a double pack. So the children will get the eight items on Friday, go to the weekend, and then the Tuesday or whatever day before that break begins, we'll give them another backpack, and those usually have 13 items in them, just an extra... Usually, we try to do an extra, at least the protein, the breakfast, the fruit to get them through the longer periods of time. But I am guilty of, and I do... I always say this, every student loves to have something fun and sweet, so I do spoil them on Christmas. They are getting Rice Krispie treats, cookies. They're getting that little extra boost because it's the holiday season and they need to have that joy too.

Andrea:
Absolutely. I can only imagine the organization that it takes to orchestrate this and to deliver this food to these kids. So tell me a bit more about how you guys make it happen.

Stavrani:
Sure. So we pack the backpacks each week on Thursdays after school, and I would be remiss in saying that we would not be able to do what we do without the support of our high school JROTC program under the guidance of Major Fred Joselis. They are definitely the heavy lifting for our organization. We get food delivery on Wednesdays, and we store that in the Blue Apron, in the back storage area. We're very thankful to have that space, then on Thursdays, the students, along with Major, they lift all the boxes, get everything set up on the table so that, probably around 2:45, definitely by... The bell rings at 3:06, we're ready to roll. And those students come, they get credit for their program, for the JROTC program, and they are so fast.
I probably hold them up in the line. We have a folding table and we have it set up so that we can go down both sides of the folding table and they put all the eight items in, tie the bag in a knot, and put it in the tote for that respective school. But they are a powerhouse, those kids. They're such a huge help. Then on Thursdays, we have three schools that come on Thursdays that like to take the backpacks on Thursdays and have them ready for Friday's distribution, and they're loading the totes for the people, for the volunteers. They're doing everything. So that's a huge part of our program, then I took over the program about two years ago from Tracy Akers, and it was nice because I was able to bring the program in-house at the high school.
So I've been able to utilize student assistance, whether it be with counting bags or making sure that we got all of our food delivered. So it's been nice because... Whether it be student monitors or students from the STAR program or from our step one program that might need a task to do at any given time. And it's been nice because over the course of those two years, students on their own will come to me and ask me what support they can give for Boomerang that week. "Hey, Ms. Christos, do you need any help with anything? Can I count bags? Can I help you do this? My teacher said that I could come at 2:30 to come help you set up on Thursdays." And it's been really heartwarming for me to see that been placed on their hearts, that empathy for these students. And a lot of those students have been recipients of the Boomerang Backpack bags when they're in elementary school.
So it's been nice to be able to bring that in-house and, like I said, have that been placed on their hearts and give them that to carry as they become individuals and grow into adulthood, to have empathy and care for those that are less fortunate. Because we're not all... We all have different needs and come from different situations each and every day.

Andrea:
Wonderful life lessons. That is so outstanding that the high school kids are helping with that effort.

Stavrani:
Yeah, we had this year the help of Mrs. Barbara Drudge from the Cardinal Center. She comes to the high school and works with our star students, so it's been nice to see those students want to help and put those backpacks together. It may take a little bit of extra time, but we never turn away hands, and the sheer joy and smiles on their face that they've completed that task from start to finish. And, "look, I was able to tie the bag and put it in the bin." And, "I can do this just like anybody else." So that's been really great.

Andrea:
So, if somebody is interested in helping out, contributing in some way to our local Boomerang Backpacks, what should they do?

Mallika:
There's several ways to help. I guess the biggest way could be to volunteer. If you have the time, you can sign up at any elementary school. They will probably need a background check, but if you... You can sign up to do the deliveries at the different elementary schools in Warsaw or if you're not able to give your time, we do also accept financial donations, and I always say no donation is too little or too much. So whatever you're able to give, we're happy and grateful to accept. Like I said, it takes about $110 per student, per year, to provide the food for their weekend backpacks. So that's the cost per student. You could sponsor one student, or you could just do a $10 donation. And an easy way to donate would be going on the website and getting more information there, or you can always contact myself or our local coordinator in the school system.

Andrea:
Wonderful. Thank you so much. Anything else that we haven't talked about as far as Boomerang Backpacks go that you would like to talk about or would like for our co-op community to know?

Mallika:
I think the biggest thing is we believe passionately in creating a stronger community and helping the children of our community, so we are creating a place for children to thrive and our community to survive and thrive long term. So any help would be wonderful. We do appreciate that. And the impact that we have, we will probably see them in years to come, because every child needs the proper nutrition to come into school ready to learn, to be alert in class. So this is a great and simple way of helping them. That would be my biggest push to help, by helping one child even, you are impacting the community.

Stavrani:
I think we've covered everything. I think... Understanding, I think a lot of times when I speak about the program, whether it be to different organizations or to church groups, I just think people are taking aback that even in our own community here in Kosciusko County, that we have such a need. So that's been the eyeopener recently, especially when I give them the numbers and how they've grown.

Andrea:
Very good. I would think that that need, that documented need there, that increase, probably, also parallels other needs. So maybe it would be good for everyone listening just to keep in mind that people around you, friends, family, and people you don't know might be struggling a little more so right now than they were a year ago, because we seem to have a reflection of that within this program, so it might be somewhere else.

Stavrani:
Well, I appreciate being with the opportunity to come speak today, and hopefully it will provide education, and help those who would like to support and contribute in any way.

Andrea:
Mallika, thank you so much. We love to learn more about these organizations. Boomerang Backpacks is another wonderful example of an organization made up of volunteers who are having a tremendous impact in our community, so thank you to you and all your volunteers for what you do.

Mallika:
Thank you so much for having us. Appreciate it.

Andrea:
You've been listening to Live Wire, the official podcast of Kosciusko REMC. To learn more about KREMC, visit our website, KREMC.com, And follow us on social media. Thanks for listening.