Meet Ellen Petree, a passionate volunteer and partner of New Path 1010! We sat down with her to chat about the amazing impact this ministry has on the community.

How did you first hear about New Path?

In 2016 Candy Greene was the first executive director of New Path 1010. She hosted a lunch with me and Shannon Derrick, the BCSS Social Worker & Feeding Barrow Coordinator, to discuss the food insecurity we were seeing in the children here, along with other issues we were experiencing. 

We shared with Candy that the Feeding Barrow program began in 2008 with our first partner agency, the Food Bank of NEGA’s Food2Kids Program and that since it began we had always had children identified but who were on the waiting list for this program due to limited community funding and only one partner agency.

From program inception [of Feeding Barrow] to present, our school social workers and counselors have worked closely with teachers and staff to identify BCSS students in elementary, middle and high school who struggle with food insecurity on the weekends.  

What made you want to get involved with New Path?

Well, I saw the need grow. In 2008, the school system had to fundraise in the community to provide the $250 needed for each student served in the Feeding Barrow weekend meal bag program.

In 2010 I volunteered to help Shannon with the ongoing Feeding Barrow community awareness campaign and the local fundraising since 20 of the 60 students receiving weekend meal bags were in my school, County Line Elementary. At that time I wasn’t aware of the childhood hunger issue in my community, until some of my students were being served discreetly by this program.

The number of children identified as needing weekend meal bags have continued to increase each year with the many difficulties BCSS families face. We needed help, and New Path provided that help. I volunteered to help one year and now 13 years later, I’m so thankful to continue working with New Path 1010.

How long have you been a partner of New Path?

The BCSS has been a partner with New Path since it began. We started serving kid-friendly, nutritious weekend meal bags to students in five of our schools during the 2017 school year. During that school year and subsequent school years more students and more schools were added, and now New Path serves 15 of our 19 schools and programs.

At the close of the 2022-23 school year New Path was serving 400 students per week in 15 schools! They have tripled the number of schools since the beginning of 2017. Our students are Barrow BLESSED!

How does New Path support our community?

New Path’s first and continued initiative of breaking the cycle of generational poverty began with BCSS students struggling with food insecurity at home. Since 2017 BCSS has been able to serve every student who’s identified as food insecure. This is a tremendous blessing!

From 2008-2016, we had students identified with food insecurity at home, but didn’t have a community agency or monetary resources from the community to provide weekend meal bags for everyone identified.  From 2011-2016 we often had 50 or more students who needed weekend meal bags by the end of the school year, but we were unable to provide this.  

Knowing so many Barrow children were with little to no food from Friday school lunch until Monday school breakfast was heartbreaking and a cruel reality for each of them during this time. New Path first and foremost offers weekly tangible hope and encouragement, and they ended BCSS waiting lists for weekend meal bags.

 The passion and commitment of this organization, its board, donors, and their army of volunteers is nothing short of remarkable and quite literally an answer to many prayers.

What is your role as a New Path partner?

My role as a BCSS Community Relations Specialist is to continue helping bring more community awareness to Barrow’s childhood hunger issue, share the story of the incredible difference New Path is making, and invite other individuals, businesses and agencies to support this non-profit with their tax-deductible donations and/or volunteer their time and expertise.

Do you have any inspiring stories from your partnership with New Path?

In serving students in one of our elementary schools, one student taught be a lesson I will never forget.  In the schools we run on very tight schedules and literally every minute is scheduled for instruction, recess, art, music, PE, computer lab, lunch (10:27-10:53 for example) etc. Students know this and they have comfort in the consistency and predictability of each school day.  

One day in the front office at County Line Elementary, when it was the regular time to discreetly call students to the office with their book bags and give them their weekend meal bag, we were running behind because of a school issue that popped up.  A student we regularly served in the weekend meal bag program actually wrote a pass to the office that day. When he appeared at the front desk, we asked him what we could help him with and he said, “Am I going to get my food bag this week? No one has called me yet and it is past time for it.” Of course, we immediately dropped everything and served this student who’d brought his bookbag with him, and one person broke away and began calling students to the office immediately.  

He taught the entire front office staff a very important lesson that day, and no matter what happened in the front office we were never late again. Students depend and look forward to receiving these weekend meal bags. They are needed! With New Path providing this hope in a bag each week, then each child knows they are seen and supported with this tangible love.

Why should other people become involved with New Path?

New Path provides a way to literally make a difference in a child’s life with each dollar donated or hour volunteered. Giving a hand-up to our Barrow children in need is the first step in breaking the cycle of generational poverty. These and other students will be the next generation of community leaders. This is the way to touch the future.

Anything else you would like to highlight?