Falls City added to BackPack Program

September 4th marked the debut of this school year’s Food Bank of Lincoln BackPack Program. This is the sixth school year that the program has provided food-filled backpacks to low income students and their families. The program will be sending home 2,066 backpacks on Friday afternoons to 22 Lincoln Public School, four Catholic Schools, and 28 schools in rural communities.

This year’s backpacks will be packed at 25 sites in Southeast Nebraska by hundreds of volunteers which include LPS VOICE students, Kiwanis Clubs, 16 church communities, educators and Food Bank volunteers. Again, with the help of the Community Health Endowment, LPS students will receive two pieces of fresh fruit each week and a voucher for a gallon of milk once a month.

The BackPack Program was awarded a grant from ConAgra Foods, which has been used to expand the BackPack Program’s rural efforts. With the gift, the Food Bank was able to add programs in four new communities, Falls City, Fairbury, Exeter and Utica. In addition to those communities, the BackPack Program now serves: Lincoln, Beatrice, Crete, Bennet, Elmwood, Waverly, Milford, Seward and Norris.

Although the program has grown by 468 backpacks, the need is still great. Last year there were 5,584 students participating in the LPS free lunch program alone. The Food Bank is committed to sustaining and growing the program in both Lincoln, and in the organization’s rural areas.

Contact – Alynn Sampson, Food Bank BackPack Coordinator, 402-466-8170, Extension 112, or asampson@lincolnfoodbank.org