Food for Falcons Program

According to Feeding America, almost 13 million children in the United States face hunger every day. Children who face hunger are more likely to have health concerns, repeat a grade, experience developmental impairments, and have social and behavioral problems. As one can imagine, these students are at risk and the effects can have long term implications.

The Brownsville Area School District (BASD) is located in a rural community of southwestern Pennsylvania, along the Monongahela River. Our district spans portions of both Fayette and Washington counties and encompasses 57 square miles. The district is comprised of one elementary school (Gr. K-5), one middle school (Gr. 6-8), and one high school (Gr. 9-12), which are situated on a single campus, serving 1,600 students from the Borough of Brownsville and Brownsville, Luzerne, and Redstone Townships.

Socio-economic status of the families served by the district is considerably low (62.5% are economically disadvantaged). Median household income in Brownsville is $27,359, less than half of the state average ($56,907). Poverty rate in Brownsville (31.7%) is more than double the state poverty rate (12.5%).

Understanding the magnitude of the obstacles our students have to overcome, our elementary teachers saw a need and developed the Food for Falcons program. This program provides students, who are in need, non-perishable food items to sustain them over the weekend and long breaks in school. Around the holidays, complete meals are provided for the entire family. Currently thirty students are benefiting each week from this program. Food for Falcons is organized by a dedicated group of teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators. It is solely supported through donations and fundraising efforts.

It is our belief that it takes a community to raise a child and our staff and teachers have exemplified this belief by providing essential needs for the children in our district.