Backpacking with Janey Foust

The numbers took Janey Foust by surprise. Some 64,000 people residing within Southeast Missouri are living below the poverty level. And 35 percent of them are children. So when Foust, a Jackson businesswoman, learned about a new and successful program helping Cape Girardeau students and their families, she was compelled to bring the program to Jackson schools as well.

Backpacks for Fridays, sponsored by the Southeast Missouri Food Bank, helps a school's neediest families by providing backpacks on Friday filled with enough nutritious meals to last a family of four throughout a weekend. The is food is nutritious, nonperishable, easy-to-open meals and snacks, says Foust. "We also pack one other item that the child might need or want, such as a toy or toothbrush and toothpaste." Backpacks are sent home every Friday of the school year, except over Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. Foust knew the program had been successful in Cape Girardeau schools, where leaders can usually identify 30 to 35 families in each school to benefit.

She learned through the food bank that $280 will feed one family for the school year. So she set a goal of $9,800 -- enough to feed 35 families at one Jackson elementary school for a year -- and began raising money.

She worked with other schools and businesses on food drives and donations, and raised enough to begin the program at Orchard Elementary in October 2010. If it's successful at Orchard, where some 41 percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunches, Foust says she may aim for a second school in Jackson next year. Foust emphasizes the amount of community support that helped pull the program together for Jackson. "I really feel all I did was put out the word, and boom, Jackson was on top of it. I think this particular need struck a chord with so many people," she says. "Businesses, civic organizations, individuals, church groups, the newspapers, all came together to make this happen in a very short period of time. It really was very overwhelming and heartwarming. What a generous and caring community we live in."

About Foust

Eleven years ago, Janey Foust was a health fitness specialist for Southeast Missouri Hospital, but she had a growing interest in insurance and financial investments. In 1999, she became an agent for American Family Insurance. "I love to help people secure their lives and future through insurance. The biggest challenge is getting people to understand and use insurance as a tool to secure their investments and their retirement rather than seeing it as a burden," she says. Foust is married to husband Alan, and they have four children and one grandchild (and another on the way). The couple live near Whitewater.

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WANT TO HELP?

Log on to the Southeast Missouri Food Bank's website at www.semofoodbank.org to make a donation to the Backpacks for Fridays program. You can designate which school you'd like your donation to benefit.