Frenship has always been committed to fostering a supportive environment where all students have the best opportunity to learn. A part of this mission is ensuring the students across the district have access to food over the weekend and during holiday breaks.
With the help of some amazing community partners, Frenship has been providing food bags to students for several years. Over time, the community partnerships have grown and together established ‘Tiger Bites’ as a weekend food bag program.
Tiger Bites became an umbrella to formalize the process of bringing the food to the Casey Administration building and distributing it to the individual campuses from there. Currently, the program services around 450 students each week across fourteen campuses.
“Frenship would not be the district we are without our community partners, and Tiger Bites is one of the most tangible examples of that,” said Keith Patrick, Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
The Lake Ridge United Methodist Church has served Frenship middle schools for many years, and at one time they provided funds for counselors to build their own pantries. Lake Ridge built a food bag program to more effectively use their funds across Lubbock. Frenship was even able to connect with Lake Ridge during the COVID-19 shutdown and coordinate centrally through them.
First Baptist Church of Lubbock learned of the need for food bags a few years ago when Mission Lubbock closed its doors. They realized families that were counting on the bags and did not want any food insecure children to go without food on weekends.
It was with First Baptist Church of Lubbock that helped Frenship build out the Tiger Bites program to what it is today. They also donate mac n’ cheese and funds to the Tiger Bites winter holiday break food bag packing, which is facilitated by the Rotary Club of Lubbock.
“Being able to provide the weekend food bags for children each week is a big blessing for our church family,” said Jerry Ramirez, the Minister of Global Initiatives at First Baptist Church. “When we need volunteers to help us stuff bags, they show up with happy hearts and a willing spirit. Our church family loves to volunteer with this great effort.”
Another amazing community partner involved in Tiger Bites is the Calvary Baptist Church in Lubbock. They began serving our campuses early on and continue to deliver food directly to campuses themselves. Each week, a generous group of senior adults at Calvary Baptist Church work to bag up the food.
“Our feeding partners for weekend, holiday, and summer food programs show incredible generosity and do significant work in partnering with us to feed those in our district who need a little extra help,” said Patrick. “Food security is vital not only to the health and wellness of our students but also to providing them with the best opportunity to learn and thrive in the classroom.”