BackPack Program
THE NEED - Childhood hunger is a silent epidemic that affects nearly 1 in 4 children. For the poorest school-age children, Friday night begins the Weekend Meal Gap, two days when the school lunch programs are not available and the children have little or nothing to eat. These children come back to school on Mondays, famished and weak, thinking only of the free meal that will come at breakfast and/or lunchtime.
THE SOLUTION - Golden Harvest Food Bank bridges the Weekend Meal Gap with the BackPack Program. Teachers and counselors identify the children who are at the greatest risk of falling into the Weekend Meal Gap. Free and reduced breakfasts and lunches are only available during the week, so our program provides needy children with meals to take home on Fridays. Golden Harvest Food Bank provides the BackPacks and transports them to the participating BackPack site, usually an elementary school. On the last day of the school week, the BackPacks are discreetly placed in the back packs of students enrolled in the program by site staff or volunteers. Each enrolled child receives a bag of child-friendly, ready-to-eat foods on Friday to take home for the weekend, when school meals are not available. Children return to school on Monday, well-fed and ready to learn.
HOW CAN I HELP? - While the need for the program has lead to its expansion, Golden Harvest faces an uphill battle to keep the program going. Costs for food and transportation are spiraling upwards, while the government funds to support the program are shrinking. The Food Bank must raise 25% more money to serve the same number of children as last year!
Donations to the BackPack Program are an important source of funding, along with program grants. Each BackPack costs $5 - the cost of sponsoring a child’s BackPacks for a 32-week school term is only $160. To make it easy, you can sign up for monthly withdrawals of $14/month.
Want to see how many kids are currently in need in your county? GO HERE
For information about a BackPack Program in your area, contact:
Grace Renken at 706.736.1199