MANNFORD — For over 15-years, every other week in Mannford, volunteers quietly gather to fill up food bags for Mannford students to receive supplementary food. On Aug. 20 those volunteers filled 400 bags for nearly 200 students.
Frank and Jane Leake took over the Mannford Food for Kids Backpack Program after Wayne Muirheid asked them to. Wayne’s wife, Deanna Muirheid, had originally started the program soon after retiring in 2010 from being a long-time teacher at Mannford Public School. Prior to taking over the program, the Leake’s were volunteers for it.
“[Jane] actually was working a year before I did and I was doing it about a year when Wayne asked me to take it over,” said Frank. “She’s been with it for at least eight years.”
The Leake’s were unsure how long they had been running the program, thankfully, a granddaughter of the Muirheid’s provided some clarity.
“Grandpa had to start stepping back around 2022,” said Kaylin Klahr.
Klahr said her grandparents had always been deeply involved in the Mannford community with her grandmother’s commitment extending far beyond her work as a teacher. Deanna began teaching in Mannford after first working as a substitute teacher and later going to school for her teaching credentials. Klahr recalled that Deanna had been teaching in Mannford since at least the 1980s.
“She has left a big impact,” said Klahr. “We just want to be able to, you know, just keep that goodness going.”
After Deanna suffered a stroke in 2009 she finished out the school year before retiring. Retirement, however, did not mean slowing down for Deanna and Wayne.
“They didn’t know what to do with themselves because they have to stay busy,” Klahr said.
Deanna had heard about backpack programs operating at other schools and began looking into how to bring one to Mannford. She and Wayne, along with Jim and Joyce Walker and Jason Langley, visited the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma to learn how the programs worked. The group returned with information and commitments that helped them establish the program locally.
Mannford Public Schools Superintendent Kelly Spradlin supported the idea and provided a room at the Lower Elementary to store food and assemble the sacks. According to the program’s brochure, that same room is still being used today.
Deanna had initially started the program through the statewide Food for Kids program getting food items from a different town and delivering it to the school personally. However, since beginning the program circumstances led to the Muirheid’s deciding to partner with the local store – Phelp’s Market, for food. The Leake’s have continued to partner with Phelp’s due to alternative options being less efficient.
“I called to see what it would be to go back and by the time we got trucks and trailers and went into Tulsa to pick it up, it wasn’t going to be any cheaper,” said Jane. Klahr said the partnership with Phelps Market has been a major change from the early days of the program back when her grandparents and other volunteers were handling much of the transportation and food gathering themselves.
“Phelps has been awesome,” Klahr said, adding that the local store’s involvement has made a significant difference in the program’s ability to grow.
The program began with only a few students, according to Klahr, but has expanded to serve approximately 185 students, as of Aug. 20, a number Frank expected to grow as the school year progressed. The growth has not been limited to the number of students served. Klahr said she recently returned to Mannford to help fill the bags after being unable to participate in the past and was surprised by how much the program had grown.
“I had seen some of the stuff that they were doing but I hadn’t been able to get here and so to be able to get here and see like how much it’s grown and how many people are involved,” Klahr said with sincerity before trailing off.
What started as a small operation has grown into one involving numerous community members and businesses. Frank said there have been a number of other changes over the years since he has been organizing the program. One positive change is the amount of funding through donations the program has been receiving.
“We used to start with that much in the bank,” he said, holding his index finger and thumb half an inch apart. “And we’d scramble to get money. But as of last year we had people coming in, companies coming in that were giving us these big checks; what I call a big check, just out of the blue.”
According to Frank, when the Leake’s took over organization of the program, purchased food cost an estimated $14,000 a year — since then cost has increased to over $20,000 a year.
“We have ten items in each bag and with that it’s probably around $2,000 maybe a little over a month,” he said.
Jane added that a teacher at the school even did a penny fundraiser last year to support the program.
“That was so sweet,” she said.
Jane gave most of the credit for fundraising to Robin Sell. “She’s my idea person,” said Jane. “She’s wonderful.” So wonderful that Jane had presented Sell with the title of CSM – Chairman of Social Media. Alongside Sell, Bonnie Kelly was also presented with the title COO or Chief Operation Officer. Jane said the First Baptist Church Youth Pastor Chris Wilson had also figured out a way to set the program up with a CashApp for donations bringing them into the modern age.
The program’s brochure notes that donations help cover not only food but also advertising, stamps, envelopes, letterhead, transportation, sacks, containers, and other expenses necessary to operate the program.
Jane continued expressing gratitude to all the volunteers who have gotten the filling of food bags every two weeks down to an art form as they twist and weave through each other.
“So many volunteers just come. People know what’s happening and they come to help and it’s great,” said Jane. “And the last couple years we’ve had so many people that were very generous.”
Watching as the volunteers circled the table bagging each item and passing the bags on to be tied and sorted was like seeing the gears of a clock slowly ticking down the seconds, then minutes, then hours. But there was nothing slow about the volunteers working together. Week to week, the organizers and volunteers have found a consistent rhythm and made the program a well-oiled machine.
Jane walked through the process.
Every other Tuesday food in bulk is provided to the program and delivered to the school by Phelps Market. Later on that same day a group of volunteers comes in to unpack and sort the delivered food. Then the following Thursday another group of volunteers comes in to fill the bags and distribute them into different totes. The brochure notes that it generally takes about an hour and a half to fill enough sacks for two weeks’ worth of food. After the totes are filled they are left in a storage room at the Mannford Upper Elementary, from there they are delivered to each bus driver who then hands out the bags to students who are dropped off at home. Once the totes are emptied they are picked up and put back in the storage room until it is time to fill them again.
Items in the bags tend to be consistent including YooHoo as an alternative to milk, fruit juices, a variety of sandwich crackers, sometimes applesauce, pudding, and beef sticks are among a few of the things packed each time.
“We get the same things all the time,” said Jane.
Despite both Jane and Frank expressing they would prefer to incorporate some fruit and vegetable options Frank said they are somewhat limited to things that can be stored for a long period of time without refrigeration.
OnethingFrankmentioned he would like is to know what the students are enjoying or if anything may need to be changed.
“We don’t get any feedback from the kids,” he said. “I’d like to know if they like it or not.”
For Klahr, the opportunity to see the program her grandparents started continuing to grow has been about more than simply seeing how many bags can be filled.
“Just my Granny,” Klahr said when asked what brought her out to help. “She would have liked that I was able to, and I’m able to, so I wanted to.”
Klahr said her grandmother’s involvement in Mannford was never about receiving recognition.
“She was just all about Mannford and building the community,” Klahr said. “She wanted to make sure that the kids were okay and that was always all she wanted.”
Klahr described her grandmother as a deeply caring and nonjudgmental person who left a lasting impression on those around her.
“She literally was a saint,” Klahr said. “I mean, the most non-judgmental, amazing woman ever.”
Klahr said her family hopes the work started by Deanna and Wayne will continue. Now, with a son of her own in the Mannford school system she said the program has taken on an even more personal meaning.
“To know that some of his friends are being taken care of and that we’re able to do that, it’s just really awesome,” she said.
Klahr said she believes her grandmother would be proud to see what the program has become.
“Granny would be, I mean, thrilled to death,” Klahr said. “She wouldn’t want her picture on here because she was very like, it’s not about me, but she would be thrilled to death that this is continuing to go and just grow and be amazing.”
The Mannford Food for Kids Backpack Program continues to rely on volunteers and donations to provide weekend food to local students. Volunteers are needed throughout the school year to help fill bins and sacks, while financial donations help purchase the food needed so identified students can participate.
Anyone aware of a student who may need weekend food can contact the student's teacher or school office which can arrange for the student to receive food. Those interested in volunteering can contact Jane Leake at (918) 724-0062.