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Hundreds of district staff members, students and volunteers conducted the 11th annual Bags of Hope food drive Saturday. Participants pack and deliver groceries to 350 district families and 50 additional elderly residents.

Administrative assistant Denise Jensen co-chairs the event. She said the proportion of students in the district living at or below the federal poverty level is around 50% and continues to rise, so the district uses the Bags of Hope event to help parents during the holiday break.

“When students aren’t in school to get free lunch and breakfast over the two-week period that they’re home for Christmas, we need to fill that gap. A lot of things happen at home that families just can’t provide for them sometimes,” Jensen said.

Kregel-Schemehorn has been out of work since Nov. 12 and the upcoming holidays were bringing extra stress for her and her six kids. The Bags of Hope delivery eased some of that stress, she said.

“We’ve been struggling really, really bad,” she said. “We weren’t sure exactly how we were going to pull off Christmas, let alone Christmas dinner. It’s just a very big help.”

Janesville School District Superintendent Steve Pophal said the district raised $44,000 for the event. Thanks to donations and bulk prices, the district was able to turn that money into $100,000 worth of grocery donations Saturday.

The district had 200 community and district employee volunteers and another 150 high school student volunteers.

Pophal said the event is a highlight for the district every year.

“The community gives so much to the district and specifically to our students. To see hundreds of our students giving back to the community is pretty heartwarming,” he said.

Aidan McNall is a senior at Craig High School who volunteered at the event for the first time this year.

“It feels good to be making a positive change in the community,” he said. “I’m with friends and people I know while also helping people out. It feels good.”

One of those people is Ezequiel Esparza, who has multiple children in the district. In between unpacking the bags in his Janesville home, Esparza said events like Bags of Hope reinforce that his children are in the right school district.

“After I found out we were selected (for Bags of Hope), I was surprised and shocked at the same time,” he said. “This is the first school I had my kids attend. It’s a good thing, and hopefully they keep up with the good and hard work,” Esparza said.

For parents like Kregel- Schemehorn and Esparza, Bags of Hope and the Janesville School District give them and their children a better holiday season.

“It’s amazing,” Kregel- Schemehorn said. “It’s overwhelming, and we just have a lot of love for them (school staff).”