Food for Kids Backpack Program

Although free/reduced breakfast and lunch programs provide significant nutritional benefits to children in school, there is evidence that many disadvantaged children do not receive sufficient food when school is not in session. Food service workers observe behavior that indicates a need for additional food to sustain children on weekends. For example, children eat extra food on Fridays, apparently to prepare for weekends without food. Likewise, children receiving school breakfast on Monday mornings eat rapidly and voraciously, apparently due to food deprivation on weekends.

The Food for Kids BackPack program provides nutritious weekend food for children eligible for free/reduced school lunches who are likely to have limited access to food over weekends. Using backpacks or other suitable carriers, children easily can carry shelf-stable, child-friendly foods home for themselves and their siblings. The weight of the food package is less than five pounds. A typical container of food for one child includes the following items:

• 2 16 oz. shelf-stable 2% milk
• 8oz. 100% fruit beverage
• 2 individual cereal packs or cereal bars
• 2 pop-top meals (beef ravioli, BBQ chicken, tuna) or peanut butter and 1 pop-top meal
• crackers/crispy toasts
• 2 puddings
• 2 to 3 miscellaneous snacks (granola bar, sunflower seeds, fruit leather )

Food for Kids BackPack is a stand-alone program of the FreestoreFoodbank and America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network. An off-shoot of the Kids Cafe program, Food for Kids BackPack takes the next step in assuring hungry children have food when Kids Cafe or school meals are not available.