There are children in America that rely on resources such as free or reduced-priced school lunch, during the school year.
The BackPack Program is designed to meet the needs of hungry children at times when other resources are not available, such as weekends and school vacations.
About the BackPack Program
- Backpacks filled with food that children take home on weekends
- Food is child-friendly, nonperishable, easily consumed and vitamin fortified
- Backpacks are discreetly distributed to children on the last day before the weekend or holiday vacation
The BackPack Concept
The BackPack Program concept was developed at the Arkansas Rice Depot, after a school nurse asked for help because hungry students were coming to her with stomachaches and dizziness. The local food bank began to provide the school children with groceries in non-descript backpacks to carry home.
More About this Program
In addition to providing nutritious food to school children in need, some BackPack Programs provide extra food for younger siblings at home and others operate during the summer months when children are out of school and have limited access to free or reduced-priced meals.
- The BackPack Program became a pilot program in 1995. The National Council of Feeding America approved the BackPack Program as an official national program of the Network in July 2006.
- More than 140 Feeding America members operated more than 3,600 BackPack Programs and served more than 190,000 children in FY2009.
All of our national programs and services are provided through the Feeding America network. You can locate the food bank that serves your local community with our locator.
For more information about the BackPack Program, please contact
June Tanoue
at 312.641.6830.
Support this and other programs by
making a donation
or to learn more about making a gift, please contact Donor Services at 800.771.2303 .