CHESTER – Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus was the first on the backpack-assembly line at Chester Elementary School on Thursday, launching the new Orange Cares program in local schools.
A group of county, school and Regional Food Bank officials chipped in filling the 30 backpacks with nutritious canned goods, produce, pasta, juice, milk, cereal and bread.
They will be distributed to school children to help tide their families over for the weekend.
“Kids are growing right now. It’s probably the most volatile in their lives that they are developing, they need the proper diet; they need the proper meals,” Neuhaus said. “They can’t learn; they can’t grow properly so this is really making a direct impact.”
Orange County is kicking in $400,000 for the first two years of the program, which will provide the food packages to elementary school kids in several districts in the county.
Neuhaus and other volunteers stuff the backpacks
