Ripley County, IN — For the 2020 football season, Batesville High School and Oldenburg Academy football teams joined forces with the Ripley County Community Foundation to Turnover Hunger in Ripley County. The Turnover Hunger program encourages football fans to pledge a dollar amount for every turnover their favorite team forces during the season.
At the end of the season, the Community Foundation collects the pledges, and the proceeds are donated to the Weekend Backsack Programs administered in local Elementary Schools. Working together, these two teams collectively raised more than $10,000 since the program’s inception and started an Endowment Fund at the Community Foundation that will continue supporting the teams’ efforts forever. In 2019 alone, the teams’ donations helped feed more than 1,100 citizens in Ripley County.
The Weekend Backsack Program provides a backpack of food to Ripley County elementary schools for children who face food insecurity on the weekends. These backpacks are filled with kid-friendly food that is easily prepared and provides nutrition they may not receive when they are outside of school. The students are identified by teachers, and the program runs from September through May, serving the Batesville, Jac-Cen-Del, Milan, South Ripley, and Sunman-Dearborn schools. The Weekend Backsack program is privately funded, and current programs are not meeting the needs without further support.
The Turnover Hunger Fund, and all of the funds administered by the Ripley County Community Foundation, are always accepting donations. You may make a one-time donation or a pledge to the Turnover Hunger Fund on their website, or you may mail a donation to the Ripley County Community Foundation at 13 E. George St, Suite B, Batesville, IN 47006.
