Program provides nutritious food for local students in Phoenix, West Genesee school districts. More than 40,000 meals are provided for children throughout the school year
By Norah Machia
The tragic story of Erin Maxwell, the 11-year-old girl killed by her stepbrother in their Palermo home in 2008, shocked the Central New York area.
Police officers arriving at the scene found the youngster had been living in deplorable conditions inside a house filled with garbage, animals and feces. Her father and stepmother were accused of locking the young girl in her room and often denying her food.
A short time after the tragedy, Sheila Dion started working as a “lunch lady” with the Phoenix Central School District. The mother of three boys, she was looking for a job that would allow her to be home with her sons during school holidays and summer vacations.
Although she had never met the young girl, Dion heard stories about Erin, and could not stop thinking about the tragedy.
“I wanted to honor her memory in a positive way” by doing something to address the broader issue of food insecurity among children in her own community, she said.
The mother decided to seek funding to start a “backpack program” for the Phoenix schools, similar to ones operating in other school districts. These programs offer bags of food for needy children to bring home each weekend. The bags are discretely placed in their backpacks by school staff, providing them with healthy meals when school breakfast and lunches are unavailable.
It took several years of knocking on doors, making phone calls and attending meetings, but in 2017, Dion was eventually able to find enough support to establish “Erin’s Angels” for the Phoenix Central School District, a program committed to ending childhood hunger.
The program was launched with support from the Southern Oswego County Council of Churches, and “I am forever grateful to that wonderful group of people” who accepted the program under their nonprofit umbrella, said Dion. “Erin’s Angels” obtained its own nonprofit status in 2019 and received a $5,000 start-up grant from the Shineman Foundation.
“Erin’s Angels” started providing weekend food bags to 17 children receiving free and reduced lunches in the Phoenix School District, said Dion. The program has grown significantly, and today it helps 124 students in the district.
Students who receive food bags through “Erin’s Angels” are identified by school social workers, who send letters to needy families letting them know their children are eligible for the weekend backpack program. Although the parents are given the option not to have their child participate, very few families refuse the help, said Dion.
“Food should be considered a school supply for hungry kids,” said Dion.
Each food bag contains items for two breakfasts, lunches and snacks — for example, oatmeal packets, apple sauces, granola bars, mac and cheese mixes and ramen noodles.
“We also send them home with extra food during school breaks,” she added.
To protect students from feeling embarrassed about needing extra food, school staff takes care of discreetly placing the food packages in the backpacks of the children when all the students are out of the classroom for other instruction, such as music or art classes.
“Erin’s Angels” also expanded into the West Genesee School District, where more than 140 children are served under its “power pack” program. The West Genesee program was initially operating under the auspices of a local church, but “we decided to put them together” into the same organization, said Dion. “We didn’t want to be limited by a zip code,” she added. “If children needed food, we wanted to help.”
As the numbers of children in the program increased, “Erin’s Angels” started to partner with the Food Bank of Central New York to purchase nutritious food in larger bulk quantities, Dion said. The programs at both schools are supported by volunteers, teachers and parents, along with business and community leaders.
The nonprofit organization relies on monetary donations to purchase food through the Food Bank of Central New York to stock food pantries within the schools. Donations of specific food items are also welcome, along with volunteers to help assemble the food bags. “Erin’s Angels” also hosts numerous fund-raising events throughout the year to support children facing hunger issues.
The food program is doing even more than curbing hunger, Dion said. “It helps meet both the physical and emotional needs of these students,” because a lack of nutritious meals often affects children’s cognitive and social development and their academic success, she added.
Studies have shown students who are hungry often have lower test scores and increased potential for failing a grade, while those who are not hungry are more attentive and engaged in their lessons. “Food insecurity also causes anxiety in children,” particularly on a Friday, if they are thinking about not being able to come to school on the weekend to eat breakfast and lunch, Dion said.
It’s not uncommon for students who are hungry to have anxiety about where their next meal is coming from, and that mental stress affects their school performance, she added.
To encourage school success, “Erin’s Angels” started offering college scholarships to Oswego County high school students last year, because “education is the only way out of poverty,” said Dion. “We would like to see that program expand in the future.”
More than 40,000 meals are provided for children throughout the school year, and “Erin’s Angels” is continuing to seek donations to support children during the summer months as well.
For more information on how to support the program, visit www.erinsangels.com.