Staff report

More than 10 years ago, Jodie Hunt starting packing weekend food kits for about two dozen Rock Hill Elementary students whose only guaranteed daily meals came from the school cafeteria.
She and a handful of volunteers felt a calling to make sure those young children knew they would have food when they left campus to return to their sometimes uncertain home lives. And, just as importantly, Hunt wanted to make sure they knew someone cared about them.
That calling Hunt felt turned into the Lawrence County-based passion project called Backpack Buddies. To know how much this fully volunteer-run organization means to her, one only must hear her speak about it.
Hunt joined representatives from 10 other local nonprofits in sharing success stories about how their clients are thriving or on their way to new opportunities because of United Way of the River Cities’ impact and safety-net grants during the agency’s 2024 Campaign Kickoff at the Marshall University Brad D. Smith Center for Business and Innovation.
“It was continually something that I felt like the Lord placed on my heart and it was something that I had to take action and I had to contact the school and say, ‘Is there anything that I could do to help?’” Hunt said.
What started as a couple dozen weekend food packs for children in one elementary school has blossomed into a major food, clothing and school supplies pantry that serves more than 600 students in 19 schools throughout Lawrence County. Hunt admitted that growing the organization took a lot of work and fundraising to meet the needs of so many children.
“United Way of the River Cities was the first grant we’d ever gotten when we started out with Backpack Buddies,” she said. “They took a chance on us when nobody else would. They were the ones, the first ones that came through and said, ‘We want to help you,’ And look what we’ve been able to accomplish where we’re at today because of United Way of the River Cities.”
Backpack Buddies is one of 28 nonprofits throughout Cabell, Lincoln, Mason and Wayne counties in West Virginia, and Lawrence and Gallia counties in Ohio, that receive funding from UWRC. During its last grant cycle in 2023, UWRC awarded more than $550,000 for initiatives in the areas of health, education, financial stability and basic needs.
The lion’s share of those funds is raised through UWRC’s annual workplace campaign. The workplace campaign has been a staple fundraising event for United Way for decades. Local businesses invite UWRC staff and their ambassadors to enter their place of work to speak to employees about its mission reducing poverty and improving lives in its six-county service area. The workplace campaign is also a time to share the success stories of UWRC’s funded partners.
Tennyson Thornberry, Chief Operating Officer of Facing Hunger Foodbank, spoke to those successes he has witnessed since the agency began receiving UWRC funding in 2025.
“We focused our request on Lincoln County,” Thornberry said. “Specifically, backpack programming for all of the schools located in Lincoln. Since that time, we served a starting number of 400 students with backpacks for the 36-week school period that contains 6 meals, so they get 2 breakfasts, 2 lunch, 2 dinners, snacks, fruits and vegetables, fruit juice and shelf stable milks.”
During the past year, Thornberry said the foodbank served 850 Lincoln County students, which totaled 30,600 total backpacks distributed and a total of 183,600 meals.
“Our support from the safety-net funding provided by the United Way of the River Cities allows us to have resources to provide consistent food resources and the capability to provide shelf stable milk and a full menu of food,” Thornberry said. “Without that starting and maintained funding, we would have to rely on donated product, and those resources would mean that children may or may not receive the planned menu nor a consistency of food product.”
The UWRC campaign with be ongoing throughout the rest of the year. Workplaces are invited to contact Sarah Short, UWRC’s director of resource development, to learn more about how to participate. She can be reached at sarah.short@unitedwayrivercities.org.
“Whether it’s giving, volunteering or simply sharing our message, I ask each and every one of you to get involved in this year’s campaign,” Short said. “Every contribution counts, and together we can make we can continue to create lasting change. So, let’s make 2024 our best year yet.”