The Backpack Concept

The BackPack for Kids Program concept was developed at the Arkansas Rice Depot in Little Rock in 1995 after a school nurse asked for help because hungry students were coming to her with stomach aches and dizziness. The local food bank began to provide the school children with easy-to-prepare food in non-descript backpacks to carry home.

Research reveals children who consume nutritious food are better students. They have increased school attendance, focus more readily, retain more information, perform better on tests and have fewer behavioral problems. Children with adequate nutrition not only improve at school, but experience fewer childhood illnesses, developmental delays and are at a lower risk of obesity.

Many children in America rely on school breakfast and lunch programs throughout the school year to provide their nutritional needs. But what happens on weekends when these meals aren’t available? That is where the Backpack for Kids Program is designed to supplement the needs of hungry children at times, like weekends, when other resources are limited. It provides kid-friendly, nonperishable, easily consumed food in backpacks to these kids on Friday afternoons.