Roy Lacey: Sponsoring a Valley child will provide weekend meals

A working single mother tells us: "I don't know what I'd do without this program. Money is tight, and I work weekends. The weekend Backpack Program means there is healthy food my children can fix and eat when I can't be there to get meals for them."

Children tell us:

® "All this food for me? Can I share it with my little sister?"

® "Now my mom doesn't have to worry about us not having enough food."

® "I get to eat every weekend?"

The stories about the need for The Idaho Foodbank's BackPack Program go on and on. There are the children who stuff themselves Monday morning on school breakfasts because they haven't eaten over the weekend. Children whose mothers cry because they don't have food for their families on Saturdays and Sundays. The child who didn't want to go on a Friday field trip because he was afraid he would miss his weekend backpack full of food.

The sad fact is, of every five Idaho children one is food-insecure, meaning that child is not sure of his or her food supply. That is 79,000 children.

The BackPack Program is feeding 1,129 of those children, but that is all the budget will allow. That is why we need your help.

The BackPack Program is a remarkably efficient way to feed children at risk of hunger over weekends. With a carefully selected backpack filled with six meals, children have the food they need when school breakfasts and lunches aren't available.

This is how the program works: The Idaho Foodbank purchases food based on a balanced menu of six kid-friendly meals. The menu, which is reviewed by a dietitian, includes such things as beef stew, shelf-stable milk, cereal, juice, peanut butter, raisins and canned fruit. Volunteers at the Foodbank warehouses in Boise, Lewiston and Pocatello then fill the backpacks with more than five pounds of this nutritious food. Through partnerships with Idaho schools in low-income areas, the Foodbank provides the backpacks to children identified "as chronically hungry" by their school counselors at the beginning of the school year. Families are asked if they would like to participate in the program, and the kids pick up the loaded backpacks from their counselors on Friday and return them empty on Monday.

The program is geared to help families through difficult times. When they no longer need it, parents are quick to say so and ask the schools to send the backpacks home with other children in need.

Unfortunately, the BackPack Program is expensive to run. The food must be purchased, and the average cost is about $7 a week. Today there are 1,129 children enrolled, which makes it a $290,000 program. Currently it runs on generous donations from Wal-Mart, the Fred Meyer Foundation, D.A. Davidson, Regence BlueShield of Idaho and individual donors. But with better funding we could reach thousands more Idaho children.

The truth is, as an independent nonprofit with no state funding, we can't afford it.

That is where the public comes in. Anyone, any family, any faith group, any civic organization can help fund the BackPack Program. It only costs $250 to sponsor one child for an entire school year.

The donation process is easy. Direct donations can be made by calling 336-9643, Ext. 258. Say you want to support the BackPack Program. If you prefer to donate online, go to www.idahofoodbank.org and click on the donate button.

When asked which program you wish to support, just type in BackPack. Checks can be mailed to BackPack Program, The Idaho Foodbank, P.O. Box 5601, Boise, ID 83705.

Roy Lacey is the interim president and CEO of The Idaho Foodbank.