Blessings in Backpack, a national organization, helps around 98,000 needy children by providing food for them over the weekends. Locally, the group severs around 500 kids.
“Blessings in a Backpack was an organization that was started about four years ago to help feed students in our local schools who don’t necessarily have enough food to eat during the weekends,” said Tiffany Toney who is a volunteer with the local group. “So we send food home with them every week so that they have something, as opposed to nothing until Monday morning when they get back to school.”
The group packages the food once a week and sends it to local schools to add to the kid’s backpacks on Fridays. School staff takes extra care to not draw attention to kids enrolled in the program.
National Blessings in a Backpack Week starts next week and the local group hopes to use it raise awareness so that people in the community know that there is a problem with hunger in the country. They’ll be hosting a coin collection next week, called “Be the Change,” at local businesses and will be also holding a special food packing on the 15th with celebrity guests such as Effingham Mayor Jeff Bloemker.
The group is always looking for volunteers to help pack and deliver food to schools. More information can be found on their website here!
You can hear an interview with Tiffany Toney and Kelly Roepke from Effingham Blessings in a Backpack here!