Food bank seeks support for student food program

Imperial Valley Food Bank says it is still $54,630 shy in the funding needed to support its Weekend Backpack Program for the 2020-21 school year.

“For more than 15 years, the Imperial Valley Food Bank has served vulnerable school-aged children in our community through backpacks of food, every Friday, for children who do not get enough to eat over the weekend,” IVFB Executive Director Sara Griffen said in a release.

Over the past two years, the food bank has served 700 students at school every Friday. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only altered how the food is distributed, but how much of it is needed.

“With schools also pivoting how they addressed their school meal distribution, we asked if they would be willing to hand out a new version of the Backpack Program – a Weekend Food Kit,” Griffen said. “In response and following suit to the county’s increased need for food during COVID, the schools took the maximum number of kits we offered, requesting 1,300 a week! So, our budget for the Food Kit/Backpack Program has doubled at a time when our economy is at its leanest.”

Griffen said the food bank’s budget for Weekend Food Kits for the 202021 school year is $199,607, which is $73,607 more than previous years.

The food bank has raised $144,977 toward the program so far, and Griffen reached out to the community to help with the rest. “If you are a decision-maker in your organization, we ask you to advocate for a donation to this program,” she said. “There are so many disruptions for children due to the pandemic. Help us make sure that weekend food is not one of them.”

The food bank may be reached at (760) 370-0966 or at ivfoodbank.org.