Backpack Buddies

Did you know, locally, 1 in 5 local children are food insecure?

Souris Valley United Way is proud to provide the Backpack Buddies program. The program provides food for school children who might not otherwise have food over the weekend.  Each week volunteers pack bags of food for local children in need.  Volunteers also transport the food to ten local schools.  The food is transported to the school on Thursday where the teachers discreetly place them in certain backpacks.

History

Research shows hungry children have poorer mental and overall health, miss more days of school, suffer greater rates of behavioral disorders, and are less prepared to learn at school. Backpack Buddies supplies children with nutritious, child-friendly, self-serve food designed to put in a backpack and feed a child over the weekend.

During the 2014 school year, Backpack Buddies was piloted at Sunnyside Elementary School. The program is now in 10 local schools including Edison, Sunnyside, McKinley, Roosevelt, Washington, Lewis & Clark, Bell, John Hoeven, Souris River Campus, and Jim Hill Middle School.

Support

The program is funded locally by individual donations from community members, corporate gifts, and grants and ran by volunteers. Many local businesses, service clubs, and groups have held local food drives as a way to support the program. No matter how big or small, every donation makes a difference!

Campaign Update

The program is a success! Parents have expressed their appreciation and excitement of their children when they bring home their backpacks. Teachers have seen changes in both attitudes and work habits of their students.

Thanks to an amazing partnership between the HomeTown Radio Group and Marketplace Foods, their Summer Food Drive has increased year after year. During eight weeks of the summer, cashiers will ask you if you’d like to add a Backpack Buddies item to your ticket. Don’t worry, you don’t have to hand deliver the item to us, however, the dollar value of the item will be added to your total and the items will be purchased at a later date when needed for the packing. Thanks to this amazing fundraiser, our community helped the program expand into the ninth school in 2021, and the tenth in 2022.

“The Minot Area Community Foundation (MACF) and Souris Valley United Way (SVUW) are pleased to announce the expansion of the Backpack Buddies program. The expansion is made possible due to a $10,000 year-end contribution from a private MACF donor fund. This contribution will allow SVUW’s Backpack Buddies program to extend its services to Longfellow Elementary School, helping to meet the needs of even more local students who face challenges with access to meals over the weekend.. ” Click here to read the whole article on our new expansion!