Floyd Elementary School first-grade teacher Becky Thompson (left) and teacher assistant Linde Voldahl get ready to hand out midmorning snacks to students who either forgot to bring their own from home or were unable to.

ALAN KIM The Roanoke Times

McCabe Coolidge (right) and Karen Day, who operate Wildfire Pots in Floyd, also run the Healthy Snacks for Hungry Kids program at Floyd Elementary School. With a portion of the proceeds from their pottery shop and local donations, they purchase snacks for students who otherwise might go without. In their studio is an information display (left) explaining and soliciting snack donations.

FLOYD -- Becky Thompson's classroom doubles as a food pantry.

Rice Krispies Treats, Cheez-Its, granola bars, cartons of milk, juice boxes and other goodies fill the shelves in the back corner, making the first-grade classroom at Floyd Elementary School the prime target for hungry kids at snack time.

Each week, McCabe Coolidge and his wife, Karen Day, pay a visit to replenish the supply.

Last spring, the two Floyd County entrepreneurs started the Healthy Snacks for Hungry Kids program at Floyd Elementary. With a portion of the proceeds from their pottery shop and local donations, they purchase daily snacks for students who otherwise might go without.

Today, Coolidge and Day are expanding the program to all elementary schools in Floyd County.

Students in kindergarten and first grade have an in-class morning snack time during which they have the option of buying milk or juice from the school or bringing something from home.

"Some don't have either," said Thompson, who helped get other classroom teachers on board with the program. "This way, they are level."

Teachers often pay for extra snacks out of their own pockets, or schools sometimes pool extra money to provide fruit for those students.

But, Coolidge said, that usually means those lower-income students get noticed by their peers.

He said he got the idea for Healthy Snacks for Hungry Kids while working on another program that gave lower-income students a backpack of food to cook during the weekend.

"We heard about younger kids in the school system coming to school without snacks while other kids in the schools had them," Coolidge said.

So he contacted Thompson, who offered to use her room as snack central.

With the help of a cadre of volunteers, Coolidge and Day tote the treats from their shop on South Locust Street to the elementary school. In a quiet, no-mess fashion, they slide through a side door that leads directly to Thompson's class and unload the snacks.

Teachers then send students to pick up snacks as needed and teachers distribute to those in need. Some teachers keep the food in their own corner and led students grab what they can, while others might distribute the snacks privately.

"This is a great program," said Floyd Elementary Principal Jack McKinley. "Anything that helps students is good for us."