BackPack Buddies has winded down for summer break, but this past school year volunteers and staff stayed busy sending out 35,286 bags! The BackPack Buddies program provides nutritious food to children in need around the Triangle area. Sending children home each weekend with six balanced meals, the BackPack Buddies program ensures that children in food-insecure homes have enough to eat during the school year on the weekends when access to the free or reduced school lunch program is not available. Delivering to over 31 sites, this program begins in September and runs through the school year until May. Totaling about thirty-four weeks of delivery, BackPack Buddies has numerous dedicated volunteers but we are always looking for more help! Volunteers are the backbone of the program- they sort food, pack bags with the meal and deliver the bags to schools every week! This program “provides consistent help for our families in need,” and the participants are grateful for the support.
Tonya Post, Director of Programs, said, “The community really steps up to help make BackPack Buddies work and to help feed as many kids as we can.” The Food Shuttle is always looking for volunteers during the school year! Starting in September, we will kick off another year of BackPack Buddies and could use your help! Send Tonya an email (tonya@foodshuttle.org) to become a BackPack volunteer.
Many thanks to Blue Water Spa-our inaugural BackPack Buddies Adopt A School sponsor and all of their donations! We could not have done it without the 45, 000 pounds of food Blue Water Spa and its clients donated!