School's out, but Barrington's Blessings in a Backpack goes on

In an otherwise empty cafeteria at Barrington High School, Lauren Delehoy and her team spent Wednesday tirelessly preparing bags of food.

Though schools are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the needs of hundreds of students who rely on Barrington Children's Charities' Blessings in a Backpack food program not only remain, but have increased. During the school year, students who receive free meals at school are sent home every weekend with a bag of food.

Now, volunteers are bringing food to the students.

Delehoy, director of food services for Quest Food Management at Barrington High, and others have spent recent weeks taking in donated food, packing it into bags and then, on Thursdays, delivering the bags to families in need.

"Our Blessings in a Backpack program expenses during this time has doubled from the current program," said Darby Hills, co-founder of Barrington Children's Charities. "We are making this investment to help local children get the food they need during this challenging time."

To help support the program, visit www.barringtonchildrenscharities.com/donate.