Christians often say God would never burden anyone’s shoulders with more than they could bear, but a Suffolk church is helping needy children feel the weight of a backpack full of food.

At 9 a.m. every other Thursday, at least 15 volunteers at East End Baptist Church in East Washington Street say a prayer together before getting down to work.

Cartons of non-perishable victuals arrive from the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia, and the volunteers spend the next couple of hours provisioning 50 backpacks.

The next day, those backpacks are delivered to Booker T. Washington Elementary School students who, along with their families, don’t get enough to eat.

“Biblically, we know Jesus was about fulfilling people’s needs,” said Youth and Young Adults Pastor William Newsome, 31.

“This is a way for us to do our mission as a church, seeking God first and being able to serve others.”

The guiding scripture for the ministry, he said, is Matthew 25:35: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

Students take the backpacks home for the weekend, providing food for family members as well as themselves, returning them to the school on Monday.

The backpacks contain nutritious things like canned fruits and vegetables as well as cereal. “The students who receive the backpacks are identified as being in need,” Newsome said.

He said the idea is simple: to alleviate hunger and the negative things that go along with it.

“Hunger is an issue and it’s affecting test scores, it’s affecting students’ behavior, it’s affecting so much,” he said.

Newsome said he first encountered the backpack ministry at a church he served while attending seminary school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

“We know that kids are eating these foods and their families are being helped,” he said. “We even have members of the church who are on this backpack program, and they say it’s great.”

Packing the foods to avoid crushing is an art; Foodbank people showed the church volunteers how do it when the ministry started in January.

“Out volunteers could be doing a lot of other things every other Thursday morning, but they have been committed to coming here and serving,” Newsome said.

Next year, he hopes the church will be able to distribute more backpacks, but that relies on getting more support.

According to district records, Booker T. Washington Elementary, with 80.83 percent, had the highest proportion of free or reduced lunch-eligible students among public schools in Suffolk in October 2011. Across the district, the proportion was 43.59 percent.

Booker T. Washington School Counselor Denise Singleton said teachers recommend the program if students come in from the weekend and seem to be hungry, or are hungry throughout the day.

“They have a red backpack and they get to take it home with them. We have other students who ask for it as well, but we have to put them on a waiting list.”

The school is careful to avoid stigmatizing recipients, she said. “When they come to get their backpacks, they don’t feel singled out,” she added.

“We announce that students in the backpack club can report to my office … and we give them to the students.”