LOAVES AND FISHES
CAMPAIGN TO FEED SIOUXLAND
The focus of this Fall campaign is to partner churches with the work of the food bank, fulfilling the biblical directive to feed the hungry. Your church can join our group of partner churches, please call (712) 255-9741
Backpack program: Food for kids
We assemble approximately 2,000 sacks each week!
The BackPack Program: Food For Kids allows us to help alleviate the hunger of students over the weekends, when they do not have the school-based breakfast and lunch programs to sustain them. If you would like to help support this vital program, please send your check directly to the Food Bank or donate via PayPal by clicking on the button on our home page.
The staff at the Food Bank of Siouxland relies on the support of groups of volunteers to assemble sacks each week. The packing is done in the Food Bank warehouse on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, with the time dependent on the wishes of the volunteers. Both during the work day and evenings are open. Volunteer schedules are set each fall, so groups or organizations willing to help with BackPack assembly can sign up by contacting Katie. Phone: (712) 255-9741
As the organization leading the charge for the BackPack program to feed hungry children, the Food Bank is responsbile for procuring the food for the weekly sacks given to some area elementary school children. We are currently working to raise the funding needed to begin another school year.
The BackPack Program: Food For Kids is also a wonderful volunteer opportunity! The scheduling for the 2010-2011 school year begins on Tuesday, September 7, 2010.
The Food Bank of Siouxland launched a new and very exciting program in October of 2006. The BackPack Program: Food For Kids allows us to help alleviate the hunger of students over the weekends, when they do not have the school-based breakfast and lunch programs to sustain them. In our first year of the program, four elementary schools in Sioux City received food sacks each week. We now serve six area elementary schools. These buildings have an extraordinarily high rate of students participating in the free and reduced lunch program, so we know that food insecurity is a problem for many of these families. Chronically hungry children cannot learn and grow as they should, so our work to help them will have a far-reaching significant impact. We assemble approximately 2,000 sacks each week!
The Food Bank is responsible each week for assembling food sacks. School vehicles deliver the sacks to the school buildings. On Fridays, the school staff places the food sacks in the students' backpacks to take home for the weekend.
As a small nonprofit organization, there are two challenges for us to face as we work with the BackPack program: money and time.
MONEY
The funding to support the program comes from gifts and grants. Ronald McDonald House Charities, the Kind World Foundation, Cargill, Argosy Casino, Hy-Vee, the Waitt Family Foundation, Siouxland Community Foundation, Sioux City Community Schools, Junior League, Women United, the Phi Theta Kappa student organization at Western Iowa Tech Community College, and many individual donors support this cause. The foods purchased for the program must be kid-friendly, shelf-stable, and nutritionally sound, so it is important for us to choose wisely the items that compose the sacks each week. At this time, the Food Bank is working to secure the funding to purchase the foods for the new school year. With costs estimated at over $110,000, it is clear that a great deal of community support will be necessary. If you would like to help support this important program, you may send your check directly to the Food Bank, or click on the Donation button on the home page to donate via PayPal.
TIME
As a very small staff, we also know the support and assistance of volunteer groups in our community are vital. We assemble approximately 2,000 sacks each week, so we need many people to put the bags together. The work is done here in our warehouse.
Be sure to give us a call if you would like to be involved. Phone: (712) 255-9741