Buddy Backpacks Program provides food to kids in need

Each Friday, or holiday break during the school year, Buddy Backpacks will provide to children in need a backpack filled with nonperishable, child-friendly, nutritious food items to children at risk of being hungry over the weekends. The children enrolled are identified by the school nurse or teachers. 

“When United Way approached us about Buddy Backpacks last spring, I was eager to get our schools involved,” said Susan Palm, nurse at Falls Elementary and Falls High School, who helps to facilitate Buddy Backpacks. “We received a higher than expected return rate for consent forms from families for the program. It has been wonderful seeing the kids’ faces light up when they receive the packs of food to take home.” 

The program now serves 56 children in International Falls and will expand to Littlefork-Big Falls and Northome this winter.

 “We can only serve as many children as we have funding for, so we have targeted about 5 percent of the school population in Koochiching County schools for this year,” said Elizabeth Johnson, coordinator of Buddy Backpacks for United Way of Northeastern Minnesota. “We know the need is greater than this and will continue our fundraising efforts in order to allow additional children in critical need to participate and receive food.” 

Start-up funding was provided by the Northland Foundation to implement Buddy Backpacks in Koochiching County. Additional funding has been secured through the Kooch County Cruise motorcycle event, Midcontinent Media Foundation and from individual donors.

Johnson added that United Way of Northeastern Minnesota purchases the food from Second Harvest North Central Food Bank which is delivered monthly to Wells Fargo in International Falls. 

“The UPS drivers recently volunteered their time to deliver food from the Iron Range up to Wells Fargo,” she said. “Volunteers at Wells Fargo distribute the packs to the school each week.”