Thrive! kicks off the new school year with our first set of backpacks going home this coming Friday!! And it looks as though we will be serving more families – we are up to 30. I don’t know whether to celebrate (does this mean word has spread?), or to worry (does this mean more families are finding themselves in positions of increased food insecurity?). Either way, we are back up and running, and hoping to continue our success, building a healthy community, one backpack at a time. Remember it’s never too late to spread the word or sign up. Just reach out to your classroom teacher(s) or to nurse Maureen.

In order to continue to Thrive (pun intended) we need to grow. One direction we hope to grow is in launching a Thrive! backpack program at the Upper Elementary campus. Conversations for that are underway. But families at the Early Childhood campus, don’t worry about being neglected. In addition to continuing the daily healthy snacks provided by Food for Free, we hope to kick off monthly community suppers provided by Somerville’s Community Cooks. We’re thinking of aiming for Third Thursdays, 5-7. If you have ideas or suggestions about how to make Third Thursdays a well-attended community success, please don’t be shy!