Backpack Food 4 Kids

My Backpack Food 4 Kids project will raise money that will go to the San Diego Food Bank Food 4 Kids Backpack program. I decided to do this as my school project when I learned that 1 in every 5 children in San Diego County wakes up every morning worried that they might not have access to any food that day. This Backpack program gives kids in need a backpack full of food at the end of the school week. For these children, school lunch programs are a source of food during the school week, but they often lack nutritious food over the weekend, getting their next meal Monday at school. Schools work with the San Diego Foodbank to help identify children in need, and to distribute the backpacks. Some examples of food that can be included in the backpacks are cereal, bars, fruit squeezers, and canned food. While researching the program, I was surprised to learn that only $5.50, or about the price of a fast food lunch, can give one kid a weekend’s amount of food. Currently, this program supports about 2000 students per week across San Diego County. However, that’s less than 1.5% of the 150,000 children in San Diego County who do not have reliable access to food every day. I am using this project to raise money to add children to the program, and to bring more attention to the benefits of the program. In addition to the GoFundMe page, I will be doing a local Hot Chocolate stand over the holidays and volunteering at the Food Bank this spring.