Fastpacs helps fill a nutritional need
Groups and organizations from throughout the area will work in the storage facility to pack the food bags delivered to students in the district.
It’s not something most students volunteer about themselves but 2,289 students in Frisco, Plano, Allen, McKinney and Wylie ISDs are identified as homeless. To help ensure these Frisco ISD students are fed, Frisco Fastpacs delivers food to those in need.
Providing nutrition to about 700 students a week at approximately 40 district campuses, Fastpacs fills a need by delivering pre-packed bags every school week that contain enough food for seven meals for each qualifying child to eat over the weekend at home.
“Fastpacs got started based on a need in the school system and the majority of the kids that we feed every day are on the free or reduced lunch program,” executive director Heather Canterbury said. “We feed kids in 40 campuses so I think that’s interesting to know. I don’t think that a lot of teachers or high school students know that fact or understand that fact, but it’s so widespread. The hunger in Frisco is so widespread.”
Fastpacs relies on volunteers to help collect and package all the donated food.
With shelves stocked with food, volunteers sort through it all to help prepare meal bags to be delivered to those in need.
“The majority of our packs are done by groups or organizations,” president Marian Schulze said. “They schedule a night to bring in their specific group and pack bags for the week. These packs are closed to anyone else. About once a month we hold a community pack night. We set up a Sign-Up Genius and open it up to individuals in the community. We found that people who were not necessarily a part of one of those larger groups still wanted a place to serve and help Fastpacs. These community pack nights allow them an opportunity to do that.”
Although some groups have been working with Frisco Fastpacs for years, others are just finding out about the program.
“We have a few ongoing groups that have been with us since the beginning, a few faith based partners, a few civic organizations, but then a lot of groups just now reach out to us because of our awareness in the community,” Canterbury said. “Like today this group from Lone Star or a high school baseball team. You know young men service league, national charity league, a honor society from a highschool, boy scout troup. So we just kind of first come first serve really.”
Aliza Porter is currently a senior. She likes to spread positivity. She loves to exercise and do kickboxing in her free time. She has a huge passion for...
