Packed with Compassion

The Giving Issue: Digging Deep To Help Those In Need

Giving comes in all forms, shapes and manners. It can be as random as reaching into one’s pocket when approached by a homeless individual on a street or being part of an organization that strives to make the planet a better place.

We now enter a holiday season when giving — or some would say giving back and paying forward — is on the minds of many people, through community service, by toil and sweat, or with a checkbook. Jmore salutes those individuals who find ways to contribute to our world, and we salute the power of giving.

These stories are mere examples of the tzedakah (righteous or charitable giving) and gemilut hasadim (acts of kindness) that take place right here in our midst. Let’s hope and pray that we can extend this spirit of generosity throughout the year and learn to be a bit kinder and more magnanimous toward each other. Therein lies the power of giving. — Jmore Staff

Weekend Backpacks for Homeless Kids

Every Thursday morning in a makeshift warehouse behind the Walgreens in “downtown” Pikesville, there’s a party going on.

Dozens of friends, family members and acquaintances gather for about 90 minutes and schmooze, laugh and tell stories, drink free coffee and nosh on assorted types of doughnuts. A laid-back sense of camaraderie and fellowship fills the air.

But socializing is not what brings these folks together but a deep concern for Baltimore City’s homeless and indigent youngsters who have virtually nothing to eat on weekends.

“This is a family affair,” says Ivan Pressman, one of the regular volunteers for Weekend Backpacks for Homeless Kids. “Everyone here is a volunteer, and everyone cares. It’s just a great experience.”

Every week, the all-volunteer nonprofit packs 500 backpacks of food that go to students in 21 city schools and feeds an estimated 2,000 people. Each backpack contains enough food to feed four people six meals each, supplying hundreds of thousands of meals annually. Backpacks brim with cans of vegetables, ravioli, beef stew and spaghetti, as well as juice boxes and bags of snacks, cereal and ramen.

The group operates on an annual budget of $200,000 and has more than 240 volunteers from all walks of life, according to its founder, Sandie Nagel, a Pikesville resident and retired educator.

“From the beginning, my heart told me that these kids have two days off from school each week,” she says. “That could be 100 hours with little or no food. I volunteered for Meals on Wheels for 35 years, so I modeled this program after that. I dreamed of being like Meals on Wheels.”

The group receives monetary and food donations and discounted non-perishable items from myriad companies, family foundations and nonprofits, including Save-A-Lot, H&S Bakery, ShopRite and the Maryland Food Bank, and its 21 drivers are from the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training.

Four years ago, Nagel started Weekend Backpacks with her husband, Fred, after she heard about a bar mitzvah boy’s tzedakah project of collecting food for needy kids on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” The Nagels started out packing 18 backpacks full of food in their dining room and bringing them to Tench Tilghman Elementary School, where they already were volunteering.

“Sandie has ideas every second of the day,” says her friend Carolyn Cooperman, who helped create Weekend Backpacks. “It’s always a good adventure with her.”

Eventually, Weekend Backpacks grew in volume of volunteers and donors, so the assembly-line process operation was moved to the Chimes Maryland headquarters in Mount Washington and then to the present donated space at 1505 Bedford Ave.

Nagel says she and other volunteers meet twice a year with school social workers and administrators to discuss which students receive backpacks. Volunteers come from a multitude of institutions and organizations, as well as through word-of-mouth.

Of the backpacks, Nagel says, “We really try to feed the whole family. That’s what separates us from everyone else, and we always try to send fruit, like apples from Baugher’s [Orchards and Farms in Westminster].”

Every week, the all-volunteer nonprofit packs 500 backpacks of food that go to students in 21 city schools and feeds an estimated 2,000 people. *(Photo by Steve Ruark)*

With hard-working and highly committed volunteers like the nonprofit’s president, Stu Dettlelbach, and vice president, Leslie Monfred, Nagel says she feels certain that Weekend Backpacks will be around for a long time.

“I had an epiphany that this will live beyond me,” she says. “These guys will make sure it lives on. I didn’t imagine it would happen like this. This is my legacy.”

Nagel still gets a bit teary when recalling a visit to a city elementary school and being approached by a young student. “She tugged at my coat and said, ‘Are you the backpack lady?’” Nagel says. “I said, ‘Yes, I am,’ and she said, ‘Well, I love you.’”

In the meantime, Nagel enjoys hanging out with her faithful volunteers on Thursday mornings and getting the job done.

“We have a well-oiled machine here. No one gets dressed up or wears fancy jewelry,” she says. “It’s just a feel-good feeling. Every time you pack one of those bags, you know a kid won’t go hungry. It’s amazing.”

For information, visit weekendbackpacks.org.