Local music, family fun and food will highlight the Grays Harbor Teen Homeless Backpack program fundraiser on Saturday.
The “Fun in the Sun Family Music Festival” will take place from 1-8 p.m. at the county fairgrounds in Elma.
“The magnitude and the size of this event is going to validate the seriousness of our organization,” Program Director Tammy Walker said. “It’s a chance to experience live music and great family entertainment while helping a great cause.”
Some homeless teens can get meals through free lunch type programs at schools, but that doesn’t help on weekends. The backpacks contain food that fills in the gaps. When school isn’t in session (summer and winter vacations and spring break) the group gives the students grocery store and fast food gift cards.
Taking the stage are The Olson Bros Band, BlackSand, Next Sunday and Humptulips.
“It’s also a chance for people to get to know our organization and see what it does,” Walker said.
The program was formed in 2006 in Thurston County as Homeless Backpacks Inc., with the mission to provide food for the weekend to homeless teens.
In 2010, the Grays Harbor Chapter was formed in Elma as a branch of the Thurston County organization, and then in 2012, Grays Harbor Teen Homeless Backpacks broke away as its own program.
Eventually, the program expanded into Montesano, Hoquiam and Taholah schools.
Teen Homeless Backpacks hopes to expand into Westport, Ocean Shores and other schools in the future.
“We’d like to be at every school in the county to be there for kids who need help,” Walker said.
Teen homelessness is real, and the numbers are high.
According to statistics from the McKinney Vento Act, Washington had 30,609 homeless students during the 2012-13 academic year.
(The act identifies homeless students as those who share housing, live in motels, hotels or campgrounds, live in shelters, were abandoned at hospitals, are awaiting foster care placement, whose primary nighttime residence isn’t “ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation (e.g. park benches, etc.),” as those living in cars, parks, train stations and similar places, or migratory children living in any of those situations.)
879 homeless students were tracked in Grays Harbor County during the same period.
While 2012-13 marked a 1 percent decrease in homeless students in Grays Harbor, 2011-12 saw an increase of about 25 percent, jumping from 709 homeless in 2010-11 to 888.
Aberdeen had the most homeless students in the county during 2012-13, tracking 385 individuals.
North Beach tracked 120 homeless students, Hoquiam tracked 99, Ocosta, 74, Elma, 70, and Lake Quinault, 49.
All other districts tracked 25 or less homeless students.
Operating on a weekly budget of about $816, Grays Harbor Teen Homeless Backpacks gathers food for the weekend in backpacks which are available for pickup at the school.
To date, the program has helped more than 70 students.
“It’s our goal to give each and every child an equal and fighting chance to succeed,” Walker said.
The program has a six-member board and 25 regular volunteers, but participation in the program greatly exceeds those numbers, Walker said.
“So many individuals and organizations do fundraising for us,” she said. “We think of the community as a volunteer.”
The overall point of the program is more than a fundraising or volunteer number.
“The ultimate goal is to reduce the number of kids who need the help,” Walker said.
Solving one aspect of the problems affecting the county could begin an upward trend.
“The less homelessness and hunger on the streets, the more productive people will be,” Walker said.
And the concert is one way the public can help.
Tickets are $20 for adults, and $5 for children 12 years old and younger.
“We’re ready to go,” Walker said. “Bring a lawn chair and a blanket, and get ready for food, entertainment for kids and great music.”
Tickets can be purchased at the gate or ordered with a credit card by calling Walker, 360-346-0208.
To volunteer for Grays Harbor Teen Homeless Backpacks, call Walker.
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