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 in Little Rock after a school nurse asked for help because hungry students were coming to her with stomach aches 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.

• There are more than 110 America's Second Harvest network members operating BackPack Programs in 39 states and Washington, D.C.
• Nationally, members distribute as many as 35,000 backpacks each week.
• This program is the fastest growing National Program within our network.  Within the last year, the program has experienced close to 100 percent growth.

All of our national programs and services are provided through the America's Second Harvest Network. You can locate the food bank or food-rescue organization that serves your local community with our locator. 

For more information about the BackPack Program, please contact David Blair at 312.641.6829. 

Support this and other programs by making a donation or to learn more about making a gift, please contact Sheenah Smith at 312.641.6617 .