Feeding Children
Nutritious Food is Critical for a Child’s Development
Harvesters’ after school, summer and weekend feeding programs for children fill an important gap, relieving the burden and anxiety a family may face when they aren’t sure where their next meal may come from. And they help children focus on their education, not hungry stomachs.
BackSnack
The BackSnack program provides a weekly backpack filled with nutritious, child-friendly food for schoolchildren at elementary and some middle schools to take home over the weekend.
BackSnack is a partnership between Harvesters, a participating school and a local community partner—usually a corporate, civic or religious organization. Harvesters provides the food and the backpacks. The local community partners help facilitate picking up the BackSnack food kits from Harvesters and distributing them to the schools. School principals and/or counselors determine which children receive BackSnacks at each school.
If you are a school interested in learning more about becoming a BackSnack partner, check out our program application here, or email us at equippingschools@harvesters.org.
School Pantry
The School Pantry Program is a food pantry conveniently located on-site at schools. The school pantries complement school breakfast and lunch programs, providing additional access to food for children and their families after the school day has ended.
School pantry distributions happen once a month at the school. Families receive about 40 lbs. of fresh produce and nonperishable family-sized items such as pasta, rice, beans, canned fruits and vegetables or canned soup.
Families interested in either the BackSnack or School Pantry program should contact their child’s school to see if the school participates in these programs.
If you are a school interested in learning more about becoming a School Pantry partner, check out our program application here, or email us at equippingschools@harvesters.org.
