The Great Falls Community Food Bank (GFCFB) began the Backpacks4Kids program in 2010 to serve food to the impoverished kids in our community.
What started with the idea that ‘no child should go hungry’, the Backpacks4Kids program now serves all elementary schools in Great Falls and in Vaughn.
On average, the program distributes more than 900 packs of food each week to kids in need.
“It feeds kids in kindergarten through grade six on weekends and holidays throughout the school year,” said Shaun Tatarka, director of the GFCFB. “When we started the program around 2010, we just served the four most impoverished schools in Great Falls, and we've now grown that to include all 15 elementary schools in Great Falls as well as Vaughn schools.”
The packs consist of two-days’ worth of healthy and easily prepared food to help hungry kids get fed through the weekend.
“The packs run around about $3.65 per pack, so this is the time of year that we go out and we ask everybody to help support this program,” Tatarka said. “It's grown every single year since I've been here; we're hoping with the economy picking up, that that growth at least slows next year, but for right now, we're doing about 950 packs a week and it's a very important program.”
To learn more about the Backpacks4Kids program and helping kids in our community, click here to visit the GFCFB website.
