Students attending McEbright Community Learning Center in Akron will once again receive toiletries and hygiene items, as well as food and snacks, as a part of the Ben Curtis Family Foundation’s Birdie Bags program.
The Millennium Fund for Children, a partnership of the Akron Beacon Journal and the Akron Community Foundation, is supporting the project at McEbright with a $2,000 grant.
The Ben Curtis Family Foundation is one of 35 organizations receiving a total of $60,200 in grants this year through the Millennium Fund for Children. Since the Millennium Fund launched in 1999, it has distributed more than $1 million in grants to local groups that benefit children in the region.
The Ben Curtis Family Foundation, which has offices in Kent, has offered its Birdie Bags to help provide reliable meals and snacks to the students at McEbright CLC since January 2022. McEbright has about 265 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, according to the Ohio Department of Education. All of the students at the school are considered economically disadvantaged.
The grant will be used to purchase hygiene products, such as deodorant, underwear, laundry detergent, ChapStick, hair ties, toothpaste and toothbrushes, according to the foundation.
“We included sample size toiletries in our Birdie Bags prior to the pandemic, but toiletries were suspended in 2021 due to the dramatic increase in food costs,” the foundation stated in its grant application. “The funds historically used for toiletries were reallocated to meet the increased demand for food.”
The total expense for purchasing toiletries is estimated at $2,044, which includes $44 in individual donations.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for many of our families that have various needs,” said Patricia Stauffer, the principal at McEbright CLC. “We are so lucky to be working with the Ben Curtis Foundation to support our students and families.”
Amber Bechter, school counselor at McEbright, said the pantry is “a lifeline for so many in our school community.”
“Families can come to the school to access items they need, whether it’s nonperishable food items or now, hygiene essentials like soap, laundry detergent and toothpaste,” Bechter said. “One parent shared with me how these resources gave them a sense of relief, knowing they wouldn’t have to choose between paying bills and providing for their family’s basic needs. This program goes beyond meeting physical needs — it restores hope and dignity.”
What also is appreciated is the foundation’s understanding of the challenges facing inner-city families “and their commitment to addressing them holistically,” Bechter said.
“Their generosity ensures our students can focus on learning without worrying about unmet basic needs, and their support strengthens the entire community by building trust and offering stability,” Bechter said.
About the Ben Curtis Family Foundation
Ben Curtis and his wife, Candace, started the Ben Curtis Family Foundation in 2013 with the mission to help alleviate childhood hunger, according to the foundation. Ben Curtis is a Kent State University graduate and 2003 British Open Champion.
Candace Curtis, the Ben Curtis Family Foundation chief executive officer, said the name “Birdie Bags” comes from a golf term: a “birdie” is when a golfer makes a hole one under par.
“It just ties it in with what he did,” said Curtis of her husband. Ben Curtis, who retired in 2018, started the Ben Curtis Golf Academy at The Country Club of Hudson.
The Ben Curtis Family Foundation provides Birdie Bags that are sent home with children throughout the school year and in the summer.
How the Birdie Bags program works
While most of the school districts the organization works with distribute bags with food and snacks, McEbright operates a pantry at the school, which the Ben Curtis Family Foundation restocks once a month, Curtis said.
“The counselor at McEbright wanted more of a pantry system to bring parents into the schools,” Curtis said. “Having the pantries allows us to have families come in. If they need other resources, the school has a resource room and information on other programs they can use.”
Demand for these programs continues to grow due to rising costs, Bechter said.
“Many families struggle to afford both food and hygiene products,” she said. “Items like toothpaste, soap and laundry detergent, in addition to groceries, are in constant demand, and thanks to the foundation’s ongoing support, our pantry remains stocked and ready to help on a daily basis.”
In addition, the pantry is a good way to get family feedback and find out what families are snapping up, and what remains on the shelves. For example, boxes of macaroni and cheese tend to go quickly, but Hamburger Helper is not as popular.
The toiletries are important because items such as toothpaste and deodorant are not covered if they are getting assistance, Curtis said.
“With 100% of students receiving free and reduced lunch, the needs of the students are very high,” according to the application from the Ben Curtis foundation. “While the food we provide is critical to addressing their food insecurity, there is also a high need for personal hygiene products that are expensive and often not available at the food bank and community food pantries.”
Birdie Bag Program provides meals and snacks year-round
The Birdie Bag Program provides year-round meals and snacks for students. Birdie Bags contain such foods as oatmeal, pasta, granola bars and fruit and include six meals and four snacks. These bags are sent home with students before weekends and school breaks.
Around 6,000 bags are packed each month, put into bins and delivered to participating schools in 14 districts in Summit, Stark and Portage counties, according to the foundation. Recipients of the Birdie Bag Program remain anonymous, as teachers put the bags in students’ lockers during an elective period such as music, physical education or art. No child is turned away.
Curtis said how often the bags are distributed depends on the district. Some districts elect to distribute bags weekly, some biweekly and some once a month.
Volunteers with the Ben Curtis Family Foundation put together bags of meals and snacks for area students struggling with hunger.
Foundation hears back on impact
Curtis said sometimes the organization hears stories about how they have been able to make a difference. For example, a teacher sent them a letter saying that she had, as a child, benefited from Birdie Bags and now helps distribute bags to students in need at her school.
In one school, a 7-year-old received a toothbrush: it was the student’s first toothbrush.
“Someone from the school had to take the child to the bathroom and teach them how to use it,” Curtis said. “There are children who are 7, 8, 9 years old who don’t know about oral hygiene.”
Stories like this remind the organization of the importance of their work, Curtis said.
“This is what keeps you going,” she said. “Sometimes because we are dealing with the schools, we aren’t right on the front lines. You don’t always realize the impact because we aren’t there day in and day out. I think the needs are growing. With inflation, cost of food, so many families are in need.”
Visit bencurtisfoundation.org for more information.
Donate to the Millennium Fund for Children.
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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ben Curtis foundation helps area students with food, toiletries