One in five children in metro Atlanta is food insecure, meaning they don't always have access to enough food for an active, healthy life.
What does that look like? Jonathan Halitsky, Director of Operations for Backpack Buddies of Metro Atlanta, shares the story of a local teacher who found a student rummaging through the teacher's lounge one early Monday morning. The student was hungry and trying to find something to eat. When the teacher asked what he ate on Sunday, the student replied that he eats on Saturday — and his brother eats on Sunday.
That's the harsh reality for many children across Georgia who rely heavily on free school breakfast and lunch for the bulk of their nutrition. Backpack Buddies of Metro Atlanta was created to provide nutritious meals and snacks for children who face hunger on the weekends.
"When children don't get enough nutrition, it affects their physical growth, ability to focus, immunity, self-esteem, and ultimately their ability to reach their full potential," said Jonathan. "This is important work, and we couldn't do it without the incredible support of our volunteers — people from all walks of life coming together to end weekend hunger for local students."
A group of dedicated volunteers started Backpack Buddies in 2017, delivering bags filled with nonperishable food to a local elementary school's guidance counselor for 10 children. The counselor would discreetly place the food into the students' backpacks, providing enough food to last through the weekend.
Since then, the organization has grown tremendously to meet the need. Established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2022, Backpack Buddies of Metro Atlanta now feeds more than 2,600 children at 50 schools. That equates to about 15,700 meals each weekend of the school year.
The nonprofit has developed an efficient model that scales sourcing of the food, stores it in a central location, and partners with a network of 35 "Community Buddies" including churches, synagogues, YMCAs, Rotary Clubs and other religious and civic organizations to distribute the food to local K-12 schools.
The program provides six meals and four snacks per child each weekend, consisting of shelf-stable, transportable food that is easy to prepare. The nutritious meals consist of items such as oatmeal, fruit, beans, milk, rice, tuna, and vegetables. In total, each child receives about five to seven pounds of food that can fit in a backpack every weekend of the school year.
"We offer many ways for people to help fill the weekend hunger gap," said Jonathan. "From lending a hand in the warehouse to corporate teams hosting turnkey packing events, to teenagers organizing food drives, our volunteer program brings people together and highlights the urgent need to end food insecurity."
Learn more about opportunities to donate and volunteer at https://www.backpackbuddiesatl.org/.
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