BACKPACKS FOR KIDS

School-year BackPacks for Kids

To provide nourishment on weekends for children at high risk of hunger, Tarrant Area Food Bank collaborates with elementary and middle schools to offer its BackPacks for Kids program. This program is placed at schools where 80% or more of the students are eligible for free and reduced-cost meals.

The schools identify the economically disadvantaged students, and Tarrant Area Food Bank provides the backpacks and the food that children can easily access without the help of adults. At the end of the school week, children take home food for themselves and their school-aged siblings.

As of January 2011, Tarrant Area Food Bank provides weekend backpacks of kid-friendly food to 26 schools in the four counties of Hamilton, Johnson, Parker and Tarrant.

SummerPacks for Kids

In the summer of 2010, Tarrant Area Food Bank began a partnership with the City of Fort Worth to create the SummerPacks for Kids program. The summer feeding program provides weekend food for children at some of the city’s summer lunch sites. When the program ended, SummerPacks had served 2,500 children.

You can read more about the SummerPacks for Kids program here.

Faith organizations and other groups are invited to help organize food for the backpacks or SummerPacks by reserving a Wednesday evening in Warehouse Quality Control. If interested, contact our Volunteer Coordinator, JoAnn Biggers, at 817-332-9177, or email her.

For more information about BackPacks for Kids or SummerPacks, contact Tarrant Area Food Bank at 817-332-9177, or email Denae Daugherty, Food for Kids Coordinator.