We Love Ida Freeman

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We Love Ida Freeman ⁎

Be an encourager!

Research shows that emotional and social support helps educators stay in the classroom, build stronger relationships, and drive their students’ growth. That's why we're excited to launch a new initiative called the Ida Encourager Team! Each month, Encouragers will write a card or note to an Ida Freeman Elementary teacher or staff member.  Learn How it Works & Join the Team

Ida Freeman Food Program

Food is the most essential school supply. Hungry children cannot learn. Plus going without food, even for short periods, can cause behavioral and psychological effects such as depression, aggression, anxiety and poor social skills in children. Oklahoma consistently ranks as one of the state’s with the highest child food insecurity and it’s happening right here in Edmond. That’s why we partner with Ida Freeman Elementary to help provide food and ensure chronically hungry students receive weekend food to help them thrive!

  • Ida Freeman Elementary staff identify students who are food insecure and then obtain parent/guardian permission for us to deliver food to their front porch for weekends.

    We shop for (or receive donated food) and create a meal kit with food to sustain children and their families over the weekend. We add fresh fruit on the week of delivery.

    Each week we pick up shelf-stable snacks provided by the Regional Food Bank (backpack program) and combine with the meal kit we create.

    These items are then delivered to students and their families to help sustain them during the weekends when they cannot receive free meals at school.

  • We appreciate donations of any of the following items. Or you can make a financial contribution designated for Ida Freeman and we will purchase food as particular items are depleted from our shelves.

    Canned Chicken

    Canned Tuna

    HUNTS canned spaghetti sauce

    BEN'S Original Ready Rice, Spanish Style Rice

    Tuna Helper Cheesy Pasta Boxes

    Canned vegetables (corn, green beans, mixed veggies)

    Macaroni & Cheese boxes

    Packages of spaghetti noodles

    Chicken noodle, vegetable beef, or tomato soup.

    Canned chili

    Chef Boyardee ravioli or spaghetti-os.

    Individual fruit cups (pears, peaches, mixed fruit)

    Instant oatmeal packets (fruit & cream, cinnamon apple)

  • With so many moving parts there are multiple ways to support this project!

    A coordinator creates meal lists, inventories the pantry, and helps stock the shelves. They also involve our children and their families in seasonal pantry sort/stock projects and in packing larger bags of food for Fall break, Thanksgiving, Winter break, and Spring break.

    Our Director of Community Engagement serves as liaison to the school counselor to ensure we have the current number of students that need food and their addresses for delivery.

    Each Tuesday (or Wednesday) volunteers are eeded to shop for the fresh fruit and pack the meal kit from a shelf the coordinator has ready.

    On Thursdays a team picks up Regional Food Bank bags from the school and brings them back to the church to have ready for delivery to students.

    Then on Thursday (or Friday) 1 or 2 volunteers pick up the food bags and drive a route to deliver the food to student’s front porches.

  • View the current volunteer schedule

    Have questions before you sign up or an idea for our program? Please contact Shelley Regan, Director of Community Engagement at 405.341.3544 or sregan@fccedmond.org