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Food for Thought: How Fastpacs is Fueling the Future, One Meal at a Time
Helping Children Overcome Food Insecurity in Frisco, TX
What You Need to Know:
- Kids need food to help them grow and develop.
- When kids have no access or limited access to food, they can experience behavioral issues, growth and development issues, and long-term health problems.
- Fastpacs works to ensure that food-insecure kids in Frisco have food over the weekend.
- You can volunteer or donate to Fastpacs to do your part in keeping North Texas a healthy place for all children.
In the delightful dance of life, a good meal is the star of the show. Beyond the immediate satisfaction of a tasty meal, the impact of our food choices ripples into our energy levels, mood, and long-term health. Just like a well-tuned engine requires quality fuel, our bodies thrive on the goodness we feed them.
As healthy adults, we know how vital nutritious meals are to our overall health. As parents, we know it’s even more important for kids to eat nutritious daily meals. When a child goes without food, it can negatively affect their growth, development, and learning. It can also put them at higher risk of adverse health conditions.
At Snellings Law, we’ve been long-time supporters of the Fastpacs program here in Frisco. They work to provide Frisco ISD students with meals over the weekend. As we continue pushing our health initiative this year, we are grateful for the work that Fastpacs does to keep kids growing and healthy. Keep reading to learn more about the work done by incredible organization.
The Toll of Childhood Hunger
When children have limited access to food, it has detrimental effects on their health. They might develop learning disabilities or chronic health conditions later in life.
For toddlers and preschoolers experiencing food insecurity, they can develop iron deficiency anemia, which can cause memory and behavioral issues for over a decade later. Food-insecure teens are at higher risk of mood and behavior disorders, substance use, and suicide.
Also, food insecurity can negatively impact the relationship between a child and their parents. Without reliable access to food, parents can experience negative mental health effects, which can negatively impact their child’s behavior and development.
Other effects of hunger on children can include:
- Vitamin deficiency
- Low energy
- Aggressiveness
- High stress
- Impaired brain development
- Short-term memory difficulties
- Obesity
- Poor reading and math performance
- Impaired social skills
- Increased likelihood of repeating a grade
- Mental and emotional health issues
- Increased frequency of illness later in life
- Increased frequency of hospitalization later in life
- Higher risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, and anemia
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released an Economic Research Report in 2023 that reported that 1 in 6 families with children experience food insecurity. This number has increased by 40% since 2021, which shows that the work that Fastpacs does for our community is needed now more than ever.
Addressing Kids' Hunger: Fastpacs’ Positive Impact on Food Insecurity
Fastpacs is a non-profit organization that serves over 1,200 public school children in Frisco. They deliver individual, prepackaged meal bags to all 77 Frisco ISD schools each week. Each bag contains seven meals of non-perishable food for children to eat over the weekend.
Along with weekend meal bags, Fastpacs also provides snack bags for students. These packs are given to counselors to distribute to children who are hungry during school and may not have the means to bring their own snacks.
Fastpacs began when founder Marian Schulze chose to fast during Lent in 2013. Throughout Lent, Marian fasted from Sunday evening to Tuesday morning, and the experience had a profound impact on her emotionally and physically. She realized a calling to help children in the area who experienced hunger on a daily basis, which led to the creation of Fastpacs.
Contributing to Fastpacs’ Mission: Your Involvement Matters
One of the other awesome things about Fastpacs is how easy it is to get involved. There are so many volunteer and donation options, so anyone can participate with Fastpacs regardless of budget or schedule. Monetary donations are welcome, of course, but you can also donate individual items from their list that go in the boxes. They have a wish list on Amazon that you can use to ship items directly to Frisco Fastpacs.
Fastpacs also includes kind notes in their food bags, aptly named “High Five” cards. These messages are written on 3×5 index cards or thick construction paper. Fastpacs encourages card-writers to get creative and accompany their encouraging notes with stickers and decorations. If you’re looking for a creative way to spend time with friends, gather some close pals and have a “High Five” card decorating night!
You can also host a food drive to help collect items for the boxes. They have a “toolkit” that gives you a step-by-step checklist for your food drive. You can access the toolkit here. Fastpacs asks that you deliver the collected items to their warehouse Tuesday through Thursday between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m.
You can also choose to get involved in an off-site or on-site group pack. Off-site group packs require that you purchase all of the required items for a food bag and assemble them in a place of your choosing. Then, you can drop the assembled bags off at the Frisco Fastpacs warehouse for distribution. On-site group packs require a group of 15-20 members. Volunteers will pack food bags on-site at the Frisco Fastpacs warehouse. You can also volunteer as a group of 5-8 to do warehouse group prep once a school semester. During warehouse prep, you’ll shelve groceries, fill tubs with items, and break down boxes.
For individual volunteers, Fastpacs has plenty of ways you can get involved. You can join one of the five Fastpacs committees open to non-board members: Marketing and Communications, Governance, Special Events, Partner Relations, and Programs. You can also volunteer to be a campus or home driver. Campus drivers go each Thursday to deliver the weekend bags to FISD schools on their specific delivery route. Home delivery drivers deliver four weekends worth of meal bags to high school students who have signed up. You may consider packing snack bags for schools as well.
Fastpacs also hosts events and fundraisers throughout the year that you or your organization can take part in. One event, “Empty Bowls,” is a dinner party in which each guest takes home a hand-crafted bowl as a reminder of all the empty bowls left to fill in the community. There are also community pack and prep nights to help pack boxes and prep the warehouse for volunteers.
You can learn more about all the volunteer opportunities Fastpacs has to offer by clicking here.
Snellings Law Cares About Your Kids’ Health and Safety
Many of our team members at Snellings Law are parents, so we know how important it is that children are safe, healthy, and cared for. We are driven to help keep our North Texas community a safe and healthy place, which includes protecting our children from harm. If you know of a child who has been neglected or abused by their childcare facility, please don’t hesitate to contact our office at (214) 387-0387.
We also urge you to join us in doing our part to keep this community healthy and get involved with Frisco Fastpacs through donations or volunteering your time. By working together, we can keep North Texas a healthy, safe place to live.
Learn about reporting childcare injuries by watching the video.
Helpful Resources
- https://fabbs.org/news/2022/03/understanding-the-effects-of-food-insecurity-on-child-cognitive-outcomes-and-well-being/
- https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/144/4/e20190397/38475/Food-Insecurity-and-Child-Health
- https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-u-s/key-statistics-graphics/
- https://healthcare.utah.edu/the-scope/kids-zone/all/2018/12/lack-of-food-can-affect-childs-learning-abilities
- https://www.friscofastpacs.org/
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