Power PACKS

Power PACKS has been asked to take on 12 more kids for the rest of the year. We can not do that without $1200 minimum in additional funds.

https://paypal.com/pools/c/117503162693493928

For those who don’t know, power packs feeds 41 food insecure children in the Hickory Tavern area.

Power P.A.C.K.S additional kids fund Power packs has been asked to add 12 additional children until the end of the school year. In order to guarantee we can cover these additional children we need to secure $1200 in funds to cover 1/2 the expense. Every bit helps!

Two SUV loads of Christmas Gifts headed to our Power P.A.C.K.S kids tomorrow. A huge thank you to everyone at Holy Cross Episcopal Church and Roto-Rooter for supporting our program!! 45 children will be super excited!!

It’s that time of the year!!! Help us fill the closet!!

Power PACKS updated their address.

Power Packs and Holy Cross Episcopal Church are collecting Hydration Donations. Hickory Tavern Elementary School will be having their field day in June and we would like to keep these kids hydrated!
Drop off at Holy Cross Episcopal Church anytime between now and June 6th! Message us here if you have any questions or want to arrange another drop off location.

Thanks to some amazing Holy Cross Episcopal Church members!! Our kids will go home with full loaves of bread, jar of PB&j, pasta and sauce, a full box of cereal, and other large meals to keep the sustained through spring break!!

Power P.A.C.K.S. needs 5,863 specific food items to complete our commitment to our 41 food insecure children.

Amazon food wish list is here
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/QWCJJL80TNGX?ref_=wl_share

Monetary Contributions
https://paypal.me/pools/c/8xqWxlPYNU

We have our giving tree set up at Holy Cross Episcopal Church as well as online. Let us know if you’d like to help sponsor a Power P.A.C.K. Kid this holiday season!!

Power P.A.C.K.S. supports kids thriving in every way possible!! The Schmooney is an AWESOME book series. Let's keep kids reading so they can stay on track!
Friends, please like the Schmooney page. Check out the books and the site. The author and creator of Schmoooney happens to be a huge power pack supporter!

Summer reading 📚📖 is SUPER important! Daily reading helps kids brains grow strong and keeps them on track! 🧠💪 Need some new books for your young readers?
👇👇click the link below 👇👇 to get some new books!!
https://www.schmooney.com/
And grab a plush toy to enjoy while you're there!!

Hello supporters!! Every year the number if kids we feed grows. We have be fortunate enough to not have to turn a single child away. We are able to do that because of support from you guys! This summer we are giving you the chance to show your support!! Purchase one of our fundraising Tshirts and we will be able to secure food for a week for a child. Wear your Tshirt out and the word out to STOP CHILDHOOD HUNGER!! SHARE, SHARE, SHARE!!
Our goal is 50 shirts but we would love to beat that number!!

We thank every single one of you for your support!!!

With love and gratitude,
Jennifer Hellams ❤️

https://www.customink.com/fundraising/power-packs-help-stop-local-child-hunger

Click here to support Jennifer Hellams for Power P.A.C.K.S Supplies

Like the rest of the country we are in a trying time. With schools closed there are children still facing food insecurity. YES there are schools open to offer 2 meals for kids, but those kids must get to the school on their own and some parents have no vehicle. Some kids have older siblings that don't count for these programs. I have already received calls from worried parents and we are working hard to supply the needs. I know it is rough right now for EVERYONE! If you have the ability to share any kind of donation we could use the support. Contact Jennifer Hellams directly or message here with any questions. Thank you so much for your support we will all get through this together! You can donate below.

https://paypal.me/pools/c/8nuzaja1qF

Feeding Kids Through Closures We are collecting donations to help cover family meals through the school closure for the 41 food insecure kids we support.

A friendly reminder about the time change this weekend!

Let's not forget to "spring ahead" this weekend!!!

Want to help us fill some gaps in our pantry but never know what to get? You can donate below and one of our awesome volunteers will shop for the items missing week to week. Sometimes we are just short 3-5 of one thing and sometimes we are short 60 of an item. These donations allow us to fill the weekly on demand gaps!

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=MNXQL73K2LZN6&source=url

Donate

If you are looking for an Ash Wednesday Service in Spanish, Holy Cross Church has a bilingual service this evening. stop by early for pancakes and sausage.
205 E. College Street
Simpsonville, SC 29681

Ash Wednesday

"The first of the forty days of Lent, named for the custom of placing blessed ashes on the foreheads of worshipers at Ash Wednesday services. The ashes are a sign of penitence and a reminder of mortality, and may be imposed with the sign of the cross. Ash Wednesday is observed as a fast in the church year of the Episcopal Church. The Ash Wednesday service is one of the Proper Liturgies for Special Days in the BCP (p. 264). Imposition of ashes at the Ash Wednesday service is optional."

SHORTAGE! We are running very LOW on lighter food items for the kids. We try to use one easy mac (the bags are cheaper than the cups) and a ramen noodles or something similar to keep the load lighter on these kids. We do not have enough mac and cheese for next week. i provided some links with great prices! If you are a Sams Club Member thats one of the best deals. And if you have Rakuten you get great cash back while helping keep 41 kids from being food insecure.
Please ship any online orders to
Holy Cross Episcopal Church
C/O Power Packs
205 E. College Street
Simpsonville SC 29681

Sams: https://www.samsclub.com/p/easy-mac-cups-12-ct/prod11880267?xid=plp_product_1_1

Target: https://www.target.com/p/three-cheese-swift-mac-macaroni-cheese-cups-8-2oz-market-pantry-8482/-/A-53137281

Big shoutout to these 2 helpers! Today we sorted the cart with all the items our packers will pack and deliver for this week. Look behind you see those empty shelves! It’s that time of year again where we run super low on donations. We have enough food to last 1.5 weeks. Please send in your food items if you can! Message us direct to arrange a pick up.
We also have and amazon and Walmart wish list that shows all our needs.
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2OYWHR1ENA8TZ/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex

https://www.walmart.com/lists/view-events-registry-items?id=00c2ffb5-c464-4085-9a31-00622fb9d2a6

THANK you on behalf of Power P.a.c.k.s. and the 41 kids we feed weekly.

Back of an Xl SUV covered in Power P.A.C.K.S headed out for delivery. This is what one week looks like!! 41 kids are no longer food insecure on weekends, thanks to all of your amazing support! ❤️💙

This week’s need is canned entrees and Mac n Cheese cups.
Photos are for examples of what we are looking for. We try to always remember weight when packing the bags so light weight entree items are always welcomed!!
Brand doesn’t matter, please be aware of the expiration date.
If shipping ship to:
Holy Cross Episcopal Church
Attn: POWER PACKS
205 E College Street
Simpsonville, SC 29681

Hello!! We are totally out of veggies and VERY low on juice boxes!! We like to do our best to provide these kids with healthy shelf sustainable options. You can find our needs on amazon or Walmart. Follow the links below!!

If you have a donation you need picked up please message us and we will make the arrangements!

WALMART: https://www.walmart.com/lists/view-events-registry-items?id=00c2ffb5-c464-4085-9a31-00622fb9d2a6&fbclid=IwAR2mgYu-kc1Nsv8mD-uSn_D8uFa7jyutIxQGvTtFAnG9p5q__NzG1fA9a0U

AMAZON: http://a.co/eDVmNhO

Week one packing underway!! All of these items will cover ONE WEEK!
Want to help? Send food items from our Amazon Wish List
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2OYWHR1ENA8TZ/ref=hz_ls_biz_ex
or
from our Walmart Registry.
https://www.walmart.com/lists/view-events-registry-items?id=00c2ffb5-c464-4085-9a31-00622fb9d2a6

All donations of food or $ go to the feeding of the Power Pack Kids!

Super THANK YOU for all of the food donations we are getting in!! Weekly we go through
136 entrees
102 snacks
68 beverages (one milk one juice)
68 breakfast items
34 fruit items (fresh or cups)
34 veggies (cups or small cans)

This provides food for 34 kids over the weekend. 34 kids whom are food insecure and could possibly have no idea what they were going to eat when school wasn't in session if it wasn't for all of you!!
So thank you every single person that donates/donated and that volunteers with our outreach ministry. The kids of Hickory Tavern Elementary School thank you too!
I encourage, no, I beg you to consider several food donations over the school year to help us maintain and keep our promise to these kiddos!!

Here is our Amazon wish list where items will be shipped directly to Power Packs http://a.co/eDVmNhO

We also have a walmart registry
www.walmart.com/lists/view-events-registry-items?id=00c2ffb5-c464-4085-9a31-00622fb9d2a6

School is starting and we need to stock our closet to supply kids in need. Here is an amazon wish list of our most used items!! You can order from this list and it will be delivered directly to Holy Cross Episcopal Church where the Power Packs Ministry is housed.

http://a.co/eDVmNhO

Check out my list on Amazon

Our Story

Power PACKS·Sunday, February 24, 2019
How we started - as told by Jennifer Hellams, Founder

I moved to Hickory Tavern, SC, right before my wedding to Will, a native of HT. I worked in the downtown Greenville area and really had no idea what was happening around me in my own neighborhood. After having a son and getting to know some mothers in the area, I began to learn of the struggles and living conditions of many families in the area. This was November of 2014. I went home and talked to Will, crying about the situation of so many hungry kids in our area. We knew we had to do something.
Not really knowing what to do, we decided to host a community Christmas dinner. Instead of Christmas gifts being exchanged between my husband and me, we were going to feed as many people as we could. We had a month to plan everything. I went from store to store to buy what we needed, and was blown away by the kindness of store employees and customers who overheard what we were doing. One lady even paid for my entire cart of groceries for the dinner! We shopped sales and got donations. Fox Carolina news even came to my house to do an interview! When all was said and done, 26 turkeys were donated to us, and we received over $150 in gift cards. My niece and nephew - 7 and 10 years old at the time - asked for canned goods for Christmas, and also packed bags to send home with the families that came.
All the turkeys were cooked on Christmas morning. Thanks to a huge volunteer turnout, we were ready to serve Christmas dinner. We ended up hosting 39 families. We had so much food that everyone was also able to take food home. While this was a great turnout, it was still less than we had hoped for. Some of the people there told us about kids that were home with no one to drive them. Or seniors in the same situation. So we loaded up our cars and went to those homes to deliver the food directly to them.
Later that night, Will and I sat down and decided we didn’t want this to be just a one-time event. We needed to have a continuing impact. So we called the local school after Christmas break, and discovered they weren’t sponsored by the back pack program. Will and I started with helping two children, and we gradually moved up to ten. Soon the need was so much more than our house and budget could handle. At the time, I was the church secretary for Holy Cross Episcopal Church in Simpsonville, SC. I presented this need at a staff meeting and the church was excited to jump on board. Still the need grew, currently we are feeding 36 children a week. We are sending out roughly 432 items A WEEK With the need so high and growing we are always looking for donations. We have teamed up with a wonderful smaller church of Hickory Tavern Rabun Creek Baptist Church. These needs will never be met to 100% as we would love them to be and we are always looking for food donations. If you would like to add a few items to your shopping list, send us a message and we will let you know what we could use. Thank you for your time in reading our story.

Power PACKS updated their business hours.

Power PACKS updated their phone number.