United Food Bank is asking kids to donate gently used backpacks to help kids in need.
From now until the end of June, children who donate their backpacks will receive a free ice cream and a special certificate recognizing their good deed. The backpack drop-off location is from 8am to 4pm Monday through Friday at United Food Bank, 245 S. Nina Drive in Mesa.
The Backpack Program gets nutritious food to kids who are at risk of going hungry over the weekend by sending them home from school each Friday with a backpack full of food. This program is extremely important for children who qualify for free or reduced lunch at school but have little to no access to food over the weekend.
United Food Bank provides more than 500 backpacks every single week during the school year; many rip, get lost and need to be replaced.
“It may be hard to imagine this, but one in four children in Arizona do not know where their next meal is coming from,” said Lisa Goin, United Food Bank’s Chief Development Officer, in a press release. “We hear from parents who thank us for this food, saying that without this program, their child would literally just be eating the free lunch provided at school. It’s an unfortunate reality for so many people that there isn’t a single morsel of food in the house.”
For more information about donating a backpack or joining the Kids Lunch Bunch, visit unitedfoodbank.org or call 480-926-4897 ext. 207.
