PowerPak 4 Kids BackPack Program
The PowerPak 4 Kids BackPack Program partners the Wichita Falls Area Food Bank with schools, volunteers, and funders to stop the suffering of childhood hunger. The program provides bags of food on Fridays to chronically hungry children - those who might otherwise not have food over the weekend. School staff are trained to refer children displaying symptoms of chronic hunger to the site coordinator. Once enrolled, children begin receiving weekly bags of nutritious, child-friendly food such as shelf-stable milk, pop-top stew, cereal, and fruit cups. “Fun sheets” are included to provide nutrition education. As needed, extra food is sent home for pre-school age sibling(s).
The PowerPak 4 Kids BackPack Program mobilizes the community. School staff communicate with families, assist with record keeping, and discreetly distribute backpacks each week. Community volunteers assemble bulk food supplies delivered by Food Bank staff and also contribute toward fundraising.
Now in its fifth year, the BackPack Program is proving to be essential to bringing weekend hunger relief to children in the region. Participants are taking home and eating healthy,child-friendly foods on weekends – many for the first time in their young lives. Their hunger no longer drives them out of their homes to seek and accept food from anyone who might offer it. And by boosting nutrition, PowerPaks help diminish the academic,developmental, and health risks that threaten undernourished children.
Since the fall 2006 semester, the average number of children served through the PowerPak 4 Kids BackPack Program has grown from 446 students in 3 counties to over 1,600 students in 9 counties. In 2011, need mandated that PowerPak expand from serving elementary- and preschool-age children to include junior high students.
PowerPak 4 Kids is largely supported through grants and gifts from individuals and organizations. Funds are always needed to maintain this program and keep pace with the need to reach out to more hungry children.