Needy Students Sent Packing — With Healthy Food for the Weekend

There's a quiet and growing movement sweeping across the country -— one that involves healthy food, backpacks, needy students and their less fortunate families. America's Second Harvest, with help from local community groups and businesses, has come up with a unique program designed to remedy the needs of less fortunate school students and their families and one that tackles student hunger head-on. But it's one that doesn't take place during a typical school day. Although some school lunch programs include free or reduced-priced food during the week, needy students often go without on weekends and when school is not in session. The weekday school meals keep young minds alert, but teachers were noticing that once Monday rolled around, students were coming back to school hungry and lethargic. More than 120 food banks distribute backpacks filled with several pounds of nutritious food on Friday afternoons at 1,200 locations (mostly schools) across 40 states. The food-filled backpacks are tackling a few major issues at the same time — hunger and an attempt to thwart lack of concentration and motivation when it's back to school on Monday. The program is quickly catching on. According to America''s Second Harvest the backpack program "is the fastest National Program" within their network and has experienced close to 100% growth within the last year alone. To learn more about America's Second Harvest Backpack Program and their other charitable hunger-relief programs, click here.

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