'Ben's Backpack' anti-hunger project inspired by their late son
GREEN BAY — It's a well-known fact among teachers that lack of attention, irritability and poor behavior on a Monday morning could mean that their students went hungry or ate very little over the weekend. However, if Becky and Peter Delain have their wish come to fruition, these famished weekends will be a thing of the past for Green Bay's poorest school children. The couple are the visionaries behind a new program called Ben's Backpack.
"The program hopes to bring awareness to kids who are in need by sending them home each Friday with a backpack full of healthy items," explained Becky.
The Delains are no strangers to feeding the hungry. In 2009 they launched Ben's Wish, an organization whose mission is to collect non-perishable food items for local pantries. Its main event has been an annual collection at Green Bay's downtown Fourth of July celebration.
Becky and Peter Delain (Eddie O'Neill | For The Compass)
Both programs drew inspiration from the tragic death of their 11-year-old son Ben, who was killed in an ATV accident in the summer of 2007 while on a family vacation in northern Wisconsin.
"One of Ben's final acts on that trip was to toss an apple out of his backpack to a homeless man seen at a highway exchange near Wausau," Becky told The Compass.
When the Delains began to put their hunger program into action around a year ago, they both were in awe of how door after door opened in getting the backpack program off the ground. For instance, one of their biggest supporters has been Alison Draheim, who last year was a homeless advocate for the Green Bay School District and now serves as the principal for Jefferson Elementary School, where the program is first being launched.
"Alison was behind us all the way," Peter explained. "She had heard of similar programs before and was ready to get it going."
Also instrumental over the last 12 months was the Green Bay Rotary Club. In fact the Delains' backpack idea was chosen as the winner this past summer in an annual contest that supports worthy area projects. In winning, explained Peter, they received no direct financial support but rather volunteer support and guidance.
Your Catholic Neighbor
Name: Becky and Peter Delain
Parish: St. Bernard, Green Bay
Age: Becky, 49; Peter, 52
Favorite saint: Paul
Words to live by: "Life is like a stone. A careless toss and you will sink to the bottom
of a stream. But an eloquent flick of the wrist can send you skipping."
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"The Rotarians have been with us to help raise money, volunteer and offer suggestions on what to do as they had done a similar program in the school district in the past," said Peter.
After a fall semester of getting the proper funding and supplies, Ben's Backpack saw its first weekend of action at Jefferson in early January. Becky said the "packing team" shows up on Thursday afternoons.
At Jefferson, all 180 students receive a backpack stocked with a piece of fruit, crackers and soup among other things. They are distributed to students in grades K-5 on Friday afternoons and are hopefully returned the next Monday.
"From what I have heard, we have only lost 10 or so backpacks so far," Becky said with a chuckle.
With a month under their belt, the Delains are pleased with the success of the program. Peter said their hope is that this pilot program at Jefferson can be duplicated at other needy schools in years to come.
Becky said their son Ben would have liked this program. "Ben had a heart of gold. He would have thought this program was 'totally awesome.'"
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