Food for Thought is a not-for-profit organization that helps to feed at-risk school students and they have launched a fundraiser to help keep their weekend backpack program running, and perhaps even expand.
The backpacks are packed with fresh food and are sent home with some of the most at-risk students in the Central Okanagan. Enough food is packed for two to three nutritious meals, along with recipe cards to follow if desired.
“We are handing out backpacks to 14 schools to our most at-risk children and so they go out with nutritious meals that could take you through the weekend,” said Cheryl Hoffman, Food for Thought’s program coordinator.
The produce grown in Food for Thought’s 11-square-foot garden in the heart of Kelowna at Helen’s Acres helps Hoffman and her team fill backpacks, but demand still exceeds what they can grow.
“We have our garden project which we are so excited about, so today we were able to put in fresh tomatoes, onions, potatoes,” Hoffman said.
The pandemic, however, has only increased the demand. There has been a 39-per cent spike in demand for the program.
To continue feeding kids and their families with the assistance of the backpack program, Food for Thought has launched a fundraiser. They need to raise $60,000 that will then be matched by Impact Tomorrow Foundation, which helps not-for-profits like Food for Thought meet fundraising goals and has committed to matching funds raised.
“We need to raise $60,000, and if we do that we will have $120,000. I do have some funds but we need those additional funds to be able to carry us through the 2021/2022 school year to feed our local children and give these children the opportunity to learn and grow,” said Hoffman.
Each week, the bags are filled with provisions and the volunteers work together like a well-oiled machine to keep kids learning on a full stomach.
“You just have to watch the people in here packing the stuff and working every week and how they deliver it to the schools to know they are making a difference,” said Al Hildebrandt, Impact Tomorrow Foundation founder and chairperson.
To learn more about Food for Thought, visit their website at www.hopeforthenations.com/agents/food-for-thought/ and to donate visit www.trellis.org/impacttomorrow_foodforthought