Blessings in a Backpack’s COVID-19 Response Effort
Blessings in a Backpack is striving to ensure kids have weekend food to eat during the COVID- 19 health emergency, whether they are learning in the classroom or remotely. Our response varies by neighborhood and focuses on aligning with the school’s food distribution solution or with other local initiatives. For example, last spring, volunteers and school counselors packed backpacks or bags at their homes or schools, set up grab and go stations, delivered food via school vans and busses, and in some cases, took food to the front porch of the children they serve.
Below are stories of our impact during COVID-19:
“For many of the families we work with, our backpack program is make or break. Food insecurity impacts many of our kids and this only increased during COVID. Our team moved quickly to shift to a delivery model in the spring so that families continued to get backpacks with no gap in service. During COVID and before, I saw the connection and community that forms around this program and it is amazing. Food helps our families to feel loved and cared for as part of our community and opens the door to greater engagement and communication.”
—Principal at Woodmere Elementary
“We were able to distribute the remainder of our supplies in the spring to our students. These students waited daily for their school meals via our bus routes, and our staff wanted to ensure we could provide more to continue to support them. So, we bagged items up and put them on the bus to distribute to students in our program. It has been wonderful to see students’ faces light up when they get that extra bag to help them through the weekend! I appreciate your continued support of our program and our students. Particularly in this hard time, they need our help more than ever.”
—Principal at Wascher Elementary
As little as $4 will provide a Blessings in a Backpack bag of food for a child facing food insecurity now, whether kids are learning at school or remotely.
