We were privaliged to have Karen Green, Executive Director of Blessings in a Backpack.  Karen shared the following with us and we would like to share it with you ...

Can you imagine what it is like to be a hungry child?

Think how hard it is to concentrate or function. You feel tired and lethargic. Your head may hurt. If you’re having a difficult time generally, being hungry makes everything worse. Now imagine you are sitting in a classroom struggling to make sense of your teachers’ instructions as you battle hunger pangs and fatigue.

Every day in cities across Canada, elementary school children arrive at school with empty stomachs, trying to learn without the benefit of proper nourishment.

Blessings in a Backpack is a unique program designed to support schoolchildren who simply do not have enough to eat on weekends. Families who struggle with hunger or who are ‘food insecure’ rely on food banks and other resources during the week, but many cannot satisfy weekend needs. This is where we step in.

The program works like this: kids take home a backpack filled with food every Friday and return the backpack empty on Monday, ready to start their week. How does this simple act help? The benefits and impact are immediate: attendance and productivity soar; students report greater attentiveness and improved energy; teachers see improvements in study habits and demeanour; parents feel relief and support for their own family. Above all, communities grow – and lives are changed.

And the best part? Because Blessings in a Backpack receives discounted food from sponsors, feeding a single child on weekends throughout the school year only costs $100! And 100% of every donation is directed towards the program.

Hunger doesn’t take weekends off. Blessings in a Backpack is a simple, effective way to ensure kids come to school on Monday ready for the week ahead. Every child in Canada deserves that support.

Please support Blessings in a Backpack and make a difference to a child today. On behalf of every hungry child we feed, thank you.

 
 
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