Words Laara Losier, Program Coordinator, Backpack Buddies South Island
Across B.C., families are struggling. One in five families are facing food insecurity – relying on school meal programs to feed their children and worried about whether they’ll have enough food to stretch through the weekend. Luckily, Backpack Buddies is here to help.
Founded when mother-daughter duo, Joanne and Emily-anne, were confronted with the reality of childhood hunger in their own community, Backpack Buddies delivered their first 20 bags of food filled with kid-approved, ready-to-eat items like hummus, tuna snacks, fresh fruit and veggies, in 2012. Today, Backpack Buddies supports more than 6,000 hungry children every week, collaborating with educators, administrators, social workers and other non-profits to deliver over 1.65 million meals per year.
“Backpack Buddies provides consistent, reliable support that our family can count on. Being a single parent, it’s tough,” shares Jaqueline, a resilient mother who goes above and beyond to make sure her son gets enough to eat. “It was really hard trying to make sure we had food, but Backpack Buddies helps our food stretch. We know we can count on it each weekend.”
As a charity fuelled by community donations, your support means so much to families who rely on Backpack Buddies to lighten their load during tough times. For moms like Jacqueline, having access to reliable, kid-approved food at home has transformed their children’s weekends.
“When Merrek gets hungry, it feels like my world stops. He shuts down,” Jacqueline shares. “Now I have a cupboard filled with kid-friendly food that Merrek loves. He knows he can grab something anytime to fill his hungry tummy.”
With your help, Backpack Buddies is not just easing kids’ hunger; they’re lifting the weight off parents’ shoulders. Every bag of food means that Merrek – and 6,000 other kids like him – has what he needs to grow and thrive at school and at home!
A small amount makes a big difference – just $25 will provide an entire bag of food for the weekend! Visit www.backpackbuddies.ca to learn how you can make sure that every Friday, kids like Merrek will go home with their backpacks filled with all the food they need over the weekends. It is so much more than food – you are putting hope on the table for B.C. kids.
