A helping hand: Volunteers assemble LittleMoochi snack packs to combat food insecurity

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One of the LittleMoochi food packs packed Thursday.

Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

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Billie Jo Mullin, front, and Sheila Peterson, volunteers from the Heartland Restaurant Group, prepared LittleMoochi food packs on Thursday.

Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

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Dunkin Donuts employees Ben Barch, left, and Naftali Macisaac added LittleMoochi food packs to boxes for distribution.

Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

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Some of the many volunteers who came to the CNX building to put together LittleMoochi food packs.

Paul Paterra/Observer-Reporter

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When students at a number of Washington County elementary schools open their backpacks, they’ll find LittleMoochi food packs waiting inside.

Designed to help combat food insecurity for children in the county, the packs were assembled Thursday at the CNX building in Canonsburg by about 100 volunteers.

Athena Petrolias, operations director for Food Helpers, a division of the Greater Washington Food Bank, said volunteers from the Heartland Restaurant Group, a franchisee of Dunkin’, would assemble enough of the packs to take care of the first month and a half of the school year.

“It’s really a great way to start students off on the right foot at the start of a new school year. If you’re worried about where your food is coming from, you can’t be as attentive as you need to be and you can’t excel in the classroom,” said Mike Zappone, director of learning and development at Heartland.

The name LittleMoochi comes from an app designed by graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University that encourages young students to develop healthy eating habits. The packs assembled Thursday contained nutritious snacks such as granola bars and Nutri-Grain bars.

The food bank has supported food-insecure families across the county for more than 44 years. Currently, more than 26,000 residents face food insecurity, 30% of whom are children younger than 18.

Last year, about 78,000 food packs were distributed to students, according to Petrolias. The cost of the packs was about $400,000. Expanding the program to all Washington County School Districts carries a price tag of more than $550,000.

On Sept. 25, Food Helpers will host The Taste Tour of Washington County to fund the LittleMoochi program. The event starts at 6 p.m. at the World Tent at Hollywood Casino.

Zappone said that snack packs will play a big role in helping many of the county’s elementary school students.

“It’s a good way to start them off, snacking the right way, keeping them full and focused for the school year,” he said.