The Crawford County R-2 School District has multiple programs in place to help its students and their families receive food and essential items they need throughout the year.

The district’s Friday food bag program provides students with nutritious, kid-friendly food over the weekend when they aren’t at school. Each bag is sent home with participating students on Fridays, or the last day of the school week. The program is confidential and is available to any students whose families would like to participate.

The district has also started a care closet program, designed to support students and families with essential items, free of charge. The Care Closet is organized and brought into the schools by Jenny Horsefield. Although the program is run out of Melanie Weber’s office, a K-12 school social worker and foster care and homeless liaison, she was quick to credit Horsefield for implementing the program.

“She’s the one who makes it possible for us to provide these items to students, and I definitely can’t take credit for it,” Weber said. “The startup was grant-funded, and Jenny has done a wonderful job getting it going.”

Horsefield voluntarily runs the Foster and Adopt Closet, Betty’s House, and has chosen to expand her efforts by helping organize care closets inside schools to benefit children.

The Care Closet provides hygiene products such as soap, toothpaste and shampoo, along with clothes, shoes, feminine products and other basic necessities.

Students can arrange to come to the Care Closet and pick out the exact items they need in order to make them feel comfortable and confident.

In the past, Weber provided these necessities for students directly to families. She said that they discovered that the need often exceeds what they can fund on their own.

“That’s where Jenny comes in with her grant writing support,” Weber said.

Weber connects with families and students who wish to utilize resources from the Care Closet.

Many community members have already reached out on Facebook wishing to donate to the program, and Weber responded by saying, “We’re so grateful for your interest in supporting us! We’ll be sharing a post in the next month or two with details about the specific items we’re in need of and how you can donate them. Stay tuned, we appreciate your patience and generosity!”

To sign up for either program, contact Weber at mweber@ccr2.org or 573-677-2528.