Backpack Buddies is a supplemental weekend food program through the Grundy County Community Food Pantry for elementary age children that are food insecure.
The program is provided for the 36 weeks of the school year and Coordinator Ginny Wikoff reports statistics show one in four children in Grundy County do not know where their next meal will come from.
In order to qualify for Backpack Buddies, students must qualify for free or reduced lunches. The Trenton R-9 School District has the largest number of recipients with 64 or 65 total between Rissler Elementary and Trenton Middle School since the middle school starts with fifth grade. Other school districts in the county who receive food for the program include Laredo, Grundy R-5, Pleasant View, and Spickard.
The Backpack Buddies program sends extra food home with students who have younger siblings in the family older than two. Backpack Buddies also sends home food for the Christmas and New Year’s Break.
The Grundy County Community Food Pantry itself sends food to all schools in the county each week, which can be given to anyone who the schools believe need it. The food pantry also sends home extra food with families who have children home during the summer.
The food pantry pays Second Harvest Food Bank of Saint Joseph for the Backpack Buddies program, and there was a $25 increase in the price per student this school year. It now costs $175 per student, which comes out to about $19,000 for all of the students served in Grundy County.
Wikoff says Backpack Buddies is at about the halfway point in having enough money to accommodate the program for this year. Donations can be made for any amount and can be sent to the Grundy County Community Food Pantry at 1703 Harris Avenue in Trenton.
Checks can be made out to the Grundy County Community Food Pantry or the Grundy County Community Food Pantry/Backpack Buddies with Backpack Buddies written on the memo line. Donations are tax deductible.
