Program is supported by MHEFI and MHIA's Technical Career Education Program
Monday, April 18, 2011
Giada De Laurentiis, Food Network star and best selling author, stopped by the Rock Hill, SC in early March to film a segment for NBC's Today Show on the Back the Pack Program. This program distributes non-perishable food items on Fridays to undernourished children in the Rock Hill school system. The segment aired Thursday, April 14th.
The Back the Pack program was started by Sue Kutz, a local community volunteer, in 2008. Kutz was inspired to start the Back the Pack program after learning that almost 53% of Rock Hill's students were on free or reduced lunch and that 1 in 17 students had little to no food to eat over the weekend.
Initially, the program had to rely entirely on volunteers to stuff each of the bags and, in turn, they were only able to serve one school per week. However, in April 2009 an opportunity presented itself with the opening of the Don Frazier Supply Chain Training Center at the Applied Technology Center (ATC) on Northwestern High School's campus.
The Don Frazier center offers an academic curriculum designed specifically for 9th-12th grade students, provides students essential knowledge, skills, and experiences related to career opportunities in the warehouse, distribution, logistics, transportation/automotive industries. The Don Frazier center is a pilot program of Material Handling Industry of America's (MHIA's) Technical Career Education Program (TCEP). TCEP was conceptualized by MHIA's Director of Continuing Education and Professional Development, Allan Howie. MHIA members donated equipment and systems for the facility through The Material Handling Education Foundation, Inc. (MHEFI).
With the opening of the Don Frazier center, Back the Pack could utilize the students and facilities to automate and streamline their processes. Students, in turn, learned the concepts behind packing, shipping, order-picking and more in a real-world situation that would contribute to their community. The Back the Pack program currently is able to accommodate 650 students in 17 schools per week.
The Today Show segment focuses on Back the Pack and the negative impact of hunger on students in the classroom. De Laurentiis is a recurring personality on the Today Show is an outspoken advocate for awareness of the widespread problem of chronic hunger.
Click here to view the Today Show segment.
MHEFI is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging and supporting material handling education. Established in 1976, MHEFI has provided funds, through private and corporate donations, to graduate and undergraduate students, as well as to academicians and their institutions. MHEFI offers a variety of scholarships to students pursuing an education in material handling.
MHIA is an international trade association that has represented the material handling & logistics industry since 1945. MHIA members include material handling and logistics equipment and systems manufacturers, integrators, consultants, publishers, and third party logistics providers. Member companies come from all areas of material handling and various parts of the world, making MHIA a strong national and international representative for the material handling industry. Much of the work of the industry is done within its product-specific sections, councils and affiliates. The association also sponsors trade events, such as ProMat and MODEX 2012 to showcase the products and services of its member companies and to educate industry professionals on the productivity solutions provided through material handling and logistics.
Contact: Carol Miller, Vice President of Marketing & Communications, Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA) (704) 676-1190/800-345-1815.
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