WAVERLY, NE (August 23, 2013) — Students who might otherwise go hungry on the weekend will have food to eat, thanks to Bethlehem Covenant Church, which has taken over the local school district’s program that provides a backpack filled with food for income-eligible students.

This year 45 students have signed up for the program.

“We heard that the school was looking for someone to take it over, and it’s such a good program that the church decided it was something we could do to give back to the community,” member Kerri Olson told The Waverly News. “The backpack program has a long life with the school, and it was something we wanted to see continue.”

The church purchases the food from the Lincoln Food Bank, and volunteers from the congregation will fill the backpacks once a week. They are then taken to the school, which distributes the backpacks.

Olson said a local foundation will continue to fund a portion of the program, but Bethlehem would raise the rest of the money.

Dan Olson, Kerri’s husband and the church pastor, said he believed that taking over the program will help the congregation to become even more aware of the community’s needs. “We were looking for a way to reach out to these people, and it was right in front of us,” he said.

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Golf Outing in Memory of Pilgrim Pines Counselor

ORLAND PARK, IL (August 23, 2013)—Hope Covenant Church will host its Third Annual Golf Outing to benefit the Peder Hedberg Foundation, which contributes funds to Pilgrim Pines Conference Center, an Evangelical Covenant Church camp in Swanzey, New Hampshire.

The event will be held at the Palos Golf Club on Saturday, September 14.

The foundation is named in honor Peder Hedberg, who died of cancer at the age of 25. He worked summers at the camp, including one in which he served as summer director, despite having recently spent a month in the hospital due to pancreatitis.

Hedberg’s father, Paul, is an ordained Covenant minister and director of the foundation. The charity has given more than $10,000 to the camp, which has used the money to purchase equipment such as kayaks and canoes.

The foundation also donates proceeds from the outing to a local organization that provides recreational opportunities for children with special needs.