GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - Thousands of kids across the Grand Valley are going hungry on the weekends.

One local church is trying to meet the need, but in just one year they went from helping 50 children to 1,200.

Curry Newton is a mother of two. Her family works with Canyon View Vineyard Church and every week her two little ones pack bags of food to give to children in need.

Newton also happens to be the Principal of Nisley Elementary. She sees first hand the number of kids who go without food.

"We had students coming in on Monday and they were hungry and tired and angry, just worrying about things a seven-year-old shouldn't worry about," says Newton.

So Nisley Elementary enlisted the help of the church. Pastor Clifford with Canyon View Vineyard Church is in charge of the outreach program which aims to feed needy kids. Every week he and a number of volunteers fill and drop off bags of food to feed 1,200 kids over the weekend.

The church used to fill backpacks with food, but it became unmanageable and too costly. Now they fill plastic bags for the kids and the extra money is used to feed the growing number of kids who are hungry.

Pastor Clifford says through a series of donations and faithful volunteers they are able to get food to six schools, but there's still an estimated 3,000 kids struggling for food. He says that's double the amount of kids they currently feed.

If you would like to donate your time or food contact the outreach program at (970) 986-3395.