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Food Bank of Delaware's Backpack Program gets new grant support

The Food Bank of Delaware announced this week it received a $20,000 grant to help fight hunger and improve nutrition among children in Delaware.

The Food Bank of Delaware has received a $20,000 grant to help fight hunger and improve nutrition among children in Delaware. 

 

The grant, from The Kraft Heinz Company Foundation, will support the Food Bank of Delaware’s Backpack Program for kids.

 

The latest U.S. Census data shows about one in six Delaware children live in poverty. Food Bank officials say the grant will allow it to get more nutritious food those kids who need it most. 

 

The Backpack Program provides food when school is not in session and federal school meal programs are not available. Bags are stocked with kid-friendly, nutritious foods including shelf-stable milk and juice, meals like macaroni and cheese and beef stew. The bags then go schools statewide where school officials discreetly place them in participants’ backpacks for the weekend or holiday.

 

The Food Bank of Delaware distributed more than 187,183 meal bags to 6,280 children last school year through 197 sites across the state.

The cost to provide a child with weekend meals through the program for an entire school year is $197.

 

Kelli Steele has over 30 years of experience covering news in Delaware, Baltimore, Winchester, Virginia, Phoenix, Arizona and San Diego, California.