Leachman fundraiser helps feed local students

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WNKY) — A local car dealership turned August car sales into food for children across Warren County.

Leachman Buick GMC gave $50 for every vehicle sold during the month to the SOKY Patriots backpack program. The effort raised $6,000, enough to help provide more than 1,500 bags of food for local students.

The need is steady. SOKY Patriots helps provide nearly 1,100 weekend food bags each week for children in Warren County Public Schools and Bowling Green Independent Schools.

Car sales help fill food bags

Tyler Jaggers, director of operations at Leachman Buick GMC, said the dealership is glad to give back to the community.

“We’re always happy to give back,” Jaggers said.

But after hearing how many food bags are needed each week, he said the $6,000 donation is only one piece of a much larger need.

“Well, they have a great need for that,” Jaggers said. “So, just heard some stats that he was sharing. What we donated is just very, very small compared to what they actually.”

The money will help SOKY Patriots buy food and other supplies used to build the weekend bags.

Hundreds of bags packed each week

Tim Allen, executive director of SOKY Patriots, said volunteers usually pack between 500 and 600 bags on Tuesday mornings. The bags are then taken to schools so students can bring them home before the weekend.

Allen said the backpack program depends on help from the community.

“Organizations, businesses, individuals make this program what it is,” Allen said. “We can’t afford it out of our own pockets and they can’t afford it out of their own pocket.”

Even a small gift can help, he said.

“But if you take a thousand donations, you can help a lot,” Allen said.

For Allen, the work is personal. He said he knows what it is like to grow up hungry.

He has also seen what the backpack program means to students. Allen said teenagers have come up to him and thanked him for the program since he became involved in 2021.

Food can make a difference at school

Ben Kirtley, director of family resource/youth services for Warren County Public Schools, said the food bags can bring relief to children who may not know what food will be waiting for them at home.

“I think for the kids going home on the weekend knowing no matter what’s at home, I’ll get something to eat is very, very significant,” Kirtley said. “And I think it’s just, it’s a huge relief.”

Kirtley said hunger can also follow a child back into the classroom.

“Well, the reality is, if the child doesn’t have food on their stomach, if a child goes the weekend without food, then the chances are their mind is not ready to work,” Kirtley said.

That is why, he said, the backpack program is about more than a bag of food.

“And one of those barriers sometimes is food,” Kirtley said. “And so this program helps remove those barriers.”

Kirtley said nearly 1,100 bags are provided each week between Warren County and Bowling Green city schools.

For the families who use them, those bags can help make the weekend a little more certain — and help children come back to school ready to learn.