Backpack Ministry

Bags will be packed at the church on
Thursday nights at 6:00 pm during the school year

Backpack Food Program

Children are at risk for hunger and many families struggle to provide them with the nutrition they need to thrive.  As a result, some children are coming to school too distracted by their empty stomachs to focus on doing well in school. 

Old Fort Church is excited to partner with Old Fort School to provide a very basic need to children in our community.  We believe that children should not have to worry if they will have something to eat over the weekend.  Through this backpack program, we have the opportunity to meet that need and take away those fears.

History

The first backpack food program began in 1995. The program was developed in Little Rock, Arkansas out of the concern of a school nurse who was seeing a large number of children in her clinic tired, sick, and falling behind in class because of hunger and food scarcity in their homes.  She approached her local food bank, the Arkansas Rice Depot, to help her address the problem. Together, they launched the Food for Kids program which provided food for kids discretely in bags or backpacks to take home during the weekends when school meals were unavailable. Today, there are hundreds of backpack food programs across the country serving thousands of children. *Sourced from Hunger Free Colorado

The Old Fort program began in 2013 and we served 15 children. Today, we average 60-65 children served each week. That's approximately 2000 bags of food sent home with our local kids every year. 

What is a Backpack Food Program?

Every backpack food program is unique to the community and school it serves. Generally, backpack food programs provide a bag of nonperishable food to children in need that they can take home and eat when school meal programs are unavailable. These bags are often distributed at school to participating children in plastic or reusable bags by their teacher as they leave Friday or before a long break.

The contents of the bag can vary depending on the food and donations available. Many programs provide enough food to replace the meals that children would receive at school.

An opt-in letters are sent home to parents/guardians of children at Old Fort Elementary. This letter describes the program and provide an opt-in form to fill out and return.  Also, if a student is identified as a child who could benefit from the program, a bag of food can be sent home with a Letter to Guardian/opt out option. The parent/guardian would not be told who recommended their child to avoid possible difficult situations with their teachers.

Items needed:

• Food – monetary and food donations will be accepted at Old Fort Church. 
• Volunteers – Help will be needed on Thursdays during the school year at 6:00 pm (Old Fort Church).
• Money – The cost of groceries for this program is approximately $300 per week. If enough variety and quantity of food donations are received, then very little to no food will need to be purchased. Monetary donations can be made to Old Fort Church (designated to Backpack Program).

Examples of Food Items:

Each bag provide:
2 Breakfast Options
2 Lunch Options
2 Snack Options
2 Fruit Options 

Things to consider:
No glass containers
Items that won't get smashed in a backpack on the bus.
Children may not have access to cooking utensils. 
Cans with pop-off/peel-off tops are desirable.
Foods that are ready to eat or require little to no cooking.
Only include non-perishable food to eliminate food safety and storage problems.

Food Examples:
Instant oatmeal packets
Boxes of cereal – individual servings
Granola bars
Cereal bars
Soup
Small bags of pretzels, Goldfish crackers, etc...
Canned fruit 
Applesauce – individual serving size
Fruit snacks
Pudding cups
Microwave popcorn
Microwaveable single-serve, macaroni & cheese, Chef-Boy-R-Dee, Spaghetti-O’s
Hormel Completes (not spicy)

Please contact Lindsay Sooy with questions or if you’d like to get involved in this exciting opportunity - lindsaysooy@gmail.com or 419-618-1219