By Chris OrletRecord Managing EditorThe Great Recession may be technically over, but its effects are still being felt among school children in the Warrenton school district.Organizers of Operation Backpack — a program that provides weekend meals for needy students — say that because of the large numbers of applicants and loss of assistance by Operation Food Search, the program has had to turn away some of those requesting help.“We had to cap the program at 100 students,” said Program Co-Director Cheryl Portillo. This year the program received about 150 requests for food aid.“We’ve doubled the number of kids in the program from last year, and it is only going to worse,” she said.Portillo said because of the poor state of the economy there are more low-income children needing help. At the same time, Operation Food Search St. Louis, which formerly provided food and hygiene products for Operation Backpack, stopped offering food support to rural areas.“We felt bad because we didn’t have the resources to help all the kids,” she said. Portillo said the program has also had to cut back on the amount of food that they send home with the students.Portillo said that participating families rely on the free or reduced-price school lunch program to help provide meals for their children during the school year. Some of these families struggle to provide meals for their children over the weekend. “Operation Backpack helps fill in the gap by providing bags full of nutritious, kid-friendly, non-perishable meals to be eaten over the weekend when resources may be limited,” she said.Operation Backpack operates in all three elementary schools, Black Hawk Middle School and Warrenton High School.There is one possible solution, however. Portillo said if every student brought one can of food to school there would be enough to feed every student who needs assistance. “It costs maybe $6 to feed one child for the weekend,” she said.Portillo said the community can help by conducting a “Backpack” food and hygiene product drive at their organization, church, school or business to collect items needed to fill bags for hungry children in the community. “I don’t know that a lot of businesses in our town are aware that kids need help,” she said.Portillo gave one example of how important it can be to help out a hungry child: “A five-year-old girl saw us packing backpacks and came over and told us that she is so looking forward to getting the food; that all she gets at home is a half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich a day.”You can contact Program Directors Cheryl Portillo at (636) 377-2113 or hometeach211@gmail.com or Marilyn Carter at (636)359-0504 or carterm@centurytel.net with questions to set up a food drive, volunteer or to make donations. Monetary donations are payable to WISE Foundation Backpack Program and are tax deductible. Food and monetary donations can be dropped off anytime at the Warren County R-III District office at 302 Kuhl Ave.Operation Backpack See Shortages; Help Sought from Community