Liberty Utilities employees donate food and cash for Page & Sage backpack program

Page & Sage has been serving students in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District for three years, giving children in need a backpack of food and a book to take home over the weekends when they don't receive free lunches and breakfasts at school.

When Liberty Utilities in South Lake Tahoe found out about the program they began a food and donation drive in order to help fill the program's shelves. They gathered boxes and cans of food and almost $300 in cash.

Parent, and employee, Jennifer Guenther heard of Page & Sage through the school her children attend. Tahoe Valley has 35 kids on the program this year and Guenther wanted to find out how her employer and co-workers could help.

Two other local schools have the blue backpacks delivered to students each week, 23 at South Tahoe Middle School and five at South Tahoe High. The need is greater with over 60% of local students qualifying for free and reduced lunches, much higher than the county average of just over 30%.

If you'd like more information, please contact Paula at paula@southtahoenow.com. The Page & Sage website has information on what types of food go into the bag. Easy to use items for kids are preferred: cups of fruit, soups, instant breakfast, granola bars, cup of noodles, canned meals such as ravioli and spaghetti and canned tuna or chicken.