The Killingworth Ambulance Association would like to thank all those who participated in its May 19 drive for the Haddam-Killingworth Backpack Program. Donations were made at the town’s Transfer Station, where the KAA … and, later, the town itself … made collections.
Despite cold, damp weather, the KAA collected $230 in cash, three large bins of toiletry items and one large box of non-perishables.
The H-K Backpack Program weekly sends home food and non-perishable items to district children from families that are struggling and twice a year equips them with toiletry items and toothbrushes for self care. Because the KAA is a medical operation, it concentrated on collecting self-care items.
The Backpack Program is a nationwide initiative created by nurses in Arkansas who noticed that children coming to school on Monday complained of symptom associated with not having been fed properly over the weekend. A program was devised to give them backpacks of food for the weekend, with the backpacks returned the following school day.