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The Food 4 Kids Program

The program’s mission is to work in partnership with the community to feed food insecure school aged children, improving health, quality of life, and the ability to learn.

Our program is an emergency food assistance program designed  to serve school-aged children grades (K-6). The schools in Backpack for Kids were identified as having a high rate of children eligible for free lunch programs. We are a relatively new program and are in the process of expanding to more schools throughout Northern Indiana, and our six county service area as funding becomes available.

The purpose of the program is to improve the physical health, mental health, and overall school performance of chronically hungry children through immediate, confidential, and direct assistance. Our goal is to ensure that food insecure children regularly receive nutritious, kid-friendly food alleviating hunger when they are not in school. This is especially important over the weekends and school holidays.

The Backpack for Kids program is funded by personal donations, sponsorships, and grants. It is because of donations and sponsorships that we are able to keep our costs and overhead low. The cost of food, delivery, and distribution is approximately $2.30 per week per child. A $50.00 donation can sponsor a child for the first quarter of the school year and a donation of $100.00 can sponsor a child for one academic school year guaranteeing regular weekly deliveries. A donation of $5,000 will cover 50 students at one school for the academic year. The program is free for eligible children and their families.

Food is distributed to the children every Friday throughout the duration of the school year. Children receive kid-friendly food each week and are responsible for their food items once they have been distributed. Children receive 12-15 items each week in a backpack provided through the program.

The food is delivered every Thursday to the schools that have been sponsored and adopted to implement the Food 4 Kids Program.

Afterschool Snack Program

Summer Food Service Program

Caring & Sharing Senior Program

If you are interested in additional information on these programs, including how to become involved as a sponsor and/or a donor, please contact the Nutrition Programs Coordinator at the Food Bank of Northern Indiana by email or by calling (574) 232-9986.