Some students at Mack Benn Jr. Elementary School will be eating better thanks to a donation from the school’s Partner-In-Education, J. M. Smucker Company.

Volunteers from Smucker’s came to Mack Benn recently to donate 100 snack packs for students at the school. The snack packs provide nutritious meals and snacks for kids over the weekend when they may not otherwise have a meal to eat.

“I think it’s vital to a lot of our students. Some of them don’t have good home-cooked meals, and some families don’t have enough,” said guidance counselor Latonya Hinton. “They are hungry, and this provides a little something extra. It’s important for a majority of our students.”

The packs included a slew of items to provide good food to eat for the children. Packs included juice boxes, syrup, pancake mix, fruits and other healthy snacks.

This is the first time Smucker’s has done a donation like this to the school, because this is its first year as a Partner-In-Education. Prior to the involvement of Smucker’s, Mack Benn had received “Blessings in a Bag” from Walmart, and it supplied students with a different variety of food.

Unfortunately, not every student could receive a snack pack, but the school took into account families’ socioeconomic status. Students were supplied with permission slips, and packs were given out on a first-come, first-served basis to those who needed them.

“Some parents requested them based on their status,” Hinton said. “We wish they could serve more, and Smucker’s wished they could as well.”

Smuckers has been a great Partner-In-Education for Mack Benn in its first year of partnership, Hinton said.

“They are definitely an asset. They come out for career day, and they even help set up classrooms,” Hinton said. “They have come to Mack Benn to help beautify the school, and they keep in touch monthly to make sure everything is OK and to see if there is anything they can do.”