For Neyda Santiago, the Power Packs Project is "a blessing."

The mother of four, whose husband is unemployed, works for the state. Because of the budget impasse in Harrisburg, she hasn't received a full paycheck in months.

So when Santiago learned she could receive free groceries every Friday at her children's school, she signed up.

"This will help out until we get back on our feet, which hopefully will be soon," Santiago said Friday, holding a bag of groceries outside a distribution trailer at Washington Elementary School.

In the bag were animal crackers, cereal, macaroni, ground turkey, apple juice, tomato puree and canned corn and beans.

Also tucked inside, in English and Spanish, was a recipe for making goulash from some of the bag's contents.

Santiago is among the 25 Washington families who participate in Power Packs, a Lancaster-based program designed to fill the nutrition void on weekends for low-income students who rely on free school breakfasts and lunches during the week.

Started in 2005 at a Lancaster city elementary school, Power Packs has expanded to serve nearly 250 families at 10 schools in Lancaster, Lititz and Manheim Township.

To participate, a family must be eligible for free- or reduced-price school meals.

This week, the program will nearly double its reach, adding eight more schools in Lancaster and one in Penn Manor School District.

Power Packs is expanding because the need for food is growing, said Joan Espenshade, the program's founder and board president.

"The schools that we're bringing on have all come to us," she said. "When there's a need in the community, it's up to the community to say, 'I can pitch in, and I can do this part of it.' "

Power Packs functions with the support of a "wonderful patchwork quilt" of individuals, organizations, churches and businesses, Espenshade said.

Most schools partner with neighboring churches to transport and distribute their food, but retired teachers, business owners, service club members and college and high school students also help out.

Power Packs' volunteer work force recently grew from 100 to 150 people to handle the extra distributions, Espenshade said.

Currently, there are no paid staffers, but a $20,000 grant from Lancaster Osteopathic Health Foundation will enable the organization to hire a part-time director to oversee day-to-day operations, she said.

That will free up Espenshade to focus on fundraising.

Power Packs gets much of its food from the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and Community Action Program of Lancaster County — when it's available.

Right now, stockpiles are low, and Espenshade has had to purchase about 70 percent of the groceries for this week's distribution.

That food is paid for with another patchwork of funding sources, including foundation grants, church collections and donations from individuals, student groups, service organizations and businesses.

Espenshade isn't concerned about the ability of Power Packs, which has a $200,000 annual budget, to support the expansion, which will serve 200 to 250 new families.

"Every time we've taken the next big step, the funding just continued to grow with us," she said.

While most of the new schools are in School District of Lancaster, which has a poverty rate of 81 percent, one — Hambright Elementary — is in Penn Manor School District.

Hambright's poverty rate is about half of SDL's, but many of its families are experiencing financial woes, acting principal Tamara Baker said.

"We've had some families that have lost their jobs, and we have families that seem to be on the brink. They're working, but if a crisis happens … they struggle to stay solvent," she said.

"Money isn't going as far as it should."

Baker said the idea behind Power Packs — that keeping students well-nourished will make them better learners — is great. She also likes how the program educates parents, too.

All participating families get binders to hold weekly recipes for such meals as tuna tacos, shepherd's pie, meatless chili and "porcupine meatballs" (meatballs made with rice).

The recipes are limited by what food donations are available each week, but Espenshade said she tries to include a source of protein, fruits and vegetables in each bag of groceries.

Beans and rice are frequent ingredients to help stretch the meals, which can feed a family of eight for about $5 or less.

"Some of their stuff is really, really good," said Jina Hill, who gets a Power Packs grocery delivery every Friday at her Sterling Place home.

Hill, a single mother whose son attends Wheatland Middle School, suffers from lupus and arthritis and earns about $1,000 a month.

"They're really a godsend because without Power Packs, I'd have to spend more money on food," she said.

"Whatever was left over from my (disability) check, I'd have to spend that on food instead of paying my bills."

bwallace@lnpnews.com