Welcome to the Hands2Hands Website!

Hands2Hands is a community outreach program in Plainwell, Michigan with the goal of distributing weekly nutritional food to local school children who are in need of assistance.

Children selected to receive a weekly food bag are identified by their school based in part on whether their family qualifies for the federal free meal program. Each Friday afternoon during the school year Hands2Hands then provides a food bag to each child for them to take home to help ensure their nutritional needs are met.

Hands2Hands is financed entirely by donations and the food bag assembly and distribution is completed by an all volunteer team. Hands2Hands is 501(c)(3) corporation so all donations are tax deductible.

Thank you for visiting our web site and please consider donating your time or money to help Hands2Hands make a real difference in the life of a child.

 

Local Statistics

The  Plainwell school district as a whole has 33.78% economically disadvantaged students out of the 2,747 total students enrolled.

Starr  Elementary has 233 free lunch kids and 16 reduced cost lunch kids or 45.44%  economically disadvantaged students of the 538 students enrolled.

Gilkey  Elementary has 125 free lunch kids and 17 reduced cost lunch kids or 33.26% economically disadvantaged students of the 430 students enrolled.

Cooper Elementary has 51 free lunch kids and 16 reduced cost lunch kids or 26.91% economically  disadvantaged students of the 247 students enrolled.

 

National Child Hunger Statistics*

• One out of every six children in the United States, (12.4 million), is at risk of hunger.
• Over 62% of children in the US public school systems are on the Free or Reduced Price Meal program.
• Childhood hunger can lead to weaker immune systems and increased hospitalization rates.
• Poor nutrition early in life can impair neural development and lead to a lower IQ.
• Unmet nutritional needs make it difficult for children to learn, pay attention in class or behave properly in order to retain what they learn.
• Data shows that a hungry child is sick more often and has a lower level of academic achievement.

 

*Data courtesy of blessingsinabackpack.org and researched through reports published by the USDA.gov and FRAC.org