We recently talked with Kathy Cobb who helps coordinate the Glen Oak Christian Church Snack Pack Ministry. These Snack Packs are so important to many of our PPS students! We are so grateful to have this program and Glen Oak Christian Church as part of our Adopt-A-School program. Read on below to learn more about the Glen Oak Christian Church Snack Pack Ministry!
Thanks for talking with us, Kathy! Can you give us some background on how you first got involved with Snack Pack program?
It was eleven years ago that an article ran in the Peoria Journal Star about a weekend Snack Pack program in Woodford county. At that same time the assistant principal at Glen Oak Community Learning Center (Katie Cobb), who was also a member of our Glen Oak Christian Church congregation, noticed that on Fridays students were “pocketing” their breakfast bars and saving them for the weekend.
So we made plans [to help these students] and that first week in October 2012 we began sharing Snack Packs at Glen Oak Community Learning Center. Our director of Music and Church Life, David Blasco, coordinated the contacts with the newspaper article, the school and the church. We speculated that we might have about 10% of the students completing the participation process (taking the permission clip home, having it signed, returning to school) To our surprise instead of 90 students the first week we had 266 and the number grew each week until we were serving over 600 students by the end of the school year. We did some creative fundraising and food raising with our congregation plus Mid-West Food Bank and individuals in the community. We gathered volunteers to pack the Snack Packs and transport to the school.
Each year we have grown and added more schools. We now serve ten different sites in Peoria and continue to welcome other schools or mentor other churches to begin a Snack Pack program in their neighborhood school. In 2021-2022 we shared Snack Packs with Glen Oak Community Learning Center, Kellar Primary, Lindbergh Middle, Harrison Community Learning Center, Sterling Middle, Charter Oak Primary, Rolling Acres Middle and Richwoods High School. We pack approximately1800 Snack Packs each week (on Thursday mornings from 9:30-10:30) with 30-35 volunteers whose average age is 82!
This program is so wonderful! Thank you for all your work. Switching gears a little, what do you like best about living in Peoria?
I am a Peoria native and have lived in different parts of Illinois, overseas and now lived back in Peoria for over 30 years. We raised our four children here, all Peoria Public School graduates and now two of my grandchildren are Peoria Public School students. I value my family that are able to live and work in Peoria, my Glen Oak Christian Church family who reach out to children, adults and families on the East Bluff and throughout Central Illinois with hands on ministry (including Snack Packs and other outreach activities), and the many community friends that I have connected with throughout my daily activities.
I am able to teach part time at Bradley University, supervising Novice and Student teachers. This allows me to see the many academic strides that Peoria Public Schools are making. The excitement and rigorous academic challenges that our local students are provided is remarkable. Education is the key to success and we in Peoria should be pleased and proud of what is being provided to the students of our community. A positive attitude and praise for the countless individuals who each day make a difference to these children and their families is too frequently not recognized for the great work that is being accomplished.
Do you have a favorite movie or TV show?
Just like the individuals, churches, community groups, school staff and families that are diverse and bring many different skills to the Snack Pack program, my movie and television selections vary a great deal. I enjoy going to the movies with my family when we get together for holidays or special events. It really does not matter what the movie is, it’s more the relationship building and reconnecting with everyone that is enjoyable and fun for me. I do watch different things on television from sports to dramas and even some of the old reruns from times gone by spark my interest. Maybe not 82 years ago, but I tend to remember where I was when the show or series first was on the air!
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you pick?
My family was fortunate to live in Japan for four years with Caterpillar and we did some traveling in Asia while we were there. International travel brings a perspective to everyone on how fortunate we are to live in the United States. We have so many opportunities. Our challenge is to make certain that everyone knows and recognizes what is possible and how they can succeed. Even the sharing of Snack Packs gives us an opportunity to reach out to children and families who may be struggling for food on the weekend. But even more important than the actual food, it is the idea that someone thought and cared enough about you that they are sharing this Snack Pack with you. We have so many things that we can share, we need to always be thinking about how we can make a difference in just one person’s life.
What’s something that happened recently that made you smile?
Each year when the school supplies start showing up at the stores and the school buses start rolling down the street I smile that again we are starting a new school year. The excitement of seeing friends and learning new things is on the minds of many. Each year is a fresh start. We do not need to worry about last year, make this year count! We at Snack Packs are looking forward to a new year as we begin packing and sharing nearly 2000 snack packs each week with 11 different Peoria Public Schools. We are adding two new school sites this year with different processes which are being designed by each school. We look forward to meeting with the principals, seeing our volunteers returning to Thursday morning packing, our off site packers at Community Workshop and Training Center, our community volunteers from EPIC and those dedicated “older” packers who continue to come each week as they make a difference to one child at a time. Snack Packs is always worthy of a smile!
Thank you again, Kathy, for chatting with us! We love the Snack Packs and appreciate all of the awesome volunteers of this wonderful program!
