Approximately 56,000 students in The Food Bank’s service area qualify for free and reduced-priced school meals. For many of them, breakfast and lunch at school offer the only source of reliable nutrition and they are at risk of hunger over the weekend.
To alleviate this risk, The Food Bank partners with elementary schools in 28 of the 32 counties it serves to provide Buddy Packs to school children. Buddy Packs are backpacks filled with kid-friendly, nutritious food that students take home over the weekend or holiday periods to supplement their meals when there is not enough for them to eat at home. After the weekend, the kids bring their empty Buddy Pack back to school to be refilled by local volunteers. The program continues week after week throughout the school year or as needed to keep the growing youngsters happy and healthy.
During the 2013-14 school-year, more than 6,000 Buddy Packs were distributed weekly. You can help children in the next school year by donating backpacks or money to purchase food for the program. You could also Adopt a Buddy to provide one backpack for one child for an entire school year!
We are collecting donations of money, backpacks and food at I-Day this year. If you would like to make a donation, the Food Bank needs...
- New or gently used backpacks
- Money
- Nutritious, shelf-stable food items such as
- Peanut butter crackers
- Pop-top canned fruits
- Pop-top canned soup
- Granola bars
- Peanut butter (in plastic jar)
(Please avoid food items suc has food stored in glass containers, perishable food such as fresh fruits & vegetables, and cookies (or other items containing a lot of sugar).