Sheila Spence works in a nursing home 40 to 50 hours a week. But sometimes that's not enough to support her family.

"Sometimes with things going on like they are now it's just not enough. Full time, overtime sometimes ain't enough to cover it," she said

She and her three children live with her mother in Garner. They've all struggled since her brother died in a train accident in 2005.

"He was one of our strongest support groups for me and my mother, my kids. And since we lost him everything went all out of proportion," she said.

Spence and her children are one of the families at Creech Road Elementary School considered homeless or in transition.

When social worker Beth Johnson started working at the school last year, she noticed that other families were in similar situations.

As of April 2009, about 1,700 Wake County public school students lived in shelters, doubled up with other family members, or even lived in cars. And about 12 percent of those children go to school in Garner, according to Johnson.

"What frequently happens is that they don't have food on the weekends," Johnson said. "Their primary source of food is through the school system. When they come in they get breakfast and they get lunch. And on the weekends, some of them don't have enough means to, their families work very hard but don't have the means to feed them on the weekends."

Johnson talked to Lord of Life Lutheran Church about the problem. They approached the Garner Mid-Day Rotary Club. And they started the "backpack buddies" program.

At the end of each week, the children in the program go home with a backpack with ingredients for at least three meals and snacks. It costs about $10 to fill each backpack.

The rotary club raises the money. Church volunteers shop and pack the backpacks.

"It just took off. It was something that touched all of our hearts. A hungry child is something none of us want to see," said volunteer Connie Fortmeyer.

Spence's children have participated in the program for several months now.

"Sometimes just a little bit of help goes a long, long way. A long, long way," she said. "When I go to work on the weekends now, I pull doubles most weekends... now I don't worry about them not having what they need at home."

Johnson hopes to expand the program to other schools in Garner.

The Garner Mid-Day Rotary Club is hosting the Black, White & Bling Gala on Saturday to raise funds for the program. Click here to find out more.