About the Nonprofit
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Our Mission:
Blessings in a Backpack mobilizes communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for school-aged children across America who might otherwise go hungry.
Our Vision:
Every school-aged child in America has the nourishment needed to learn and grow. As a leader in the movement to end childhood hunger, Blessings in a Backpack strives to ensure children do not go hungry on the weekends by empowering individuals and communities to take action.
Utilizing a team of 600 volunteers, in the Chicago Area we feed 6,000 children k - 12, who depend on school for breakfast and lunch during the week, every friday of the school year.
Our Impact:
Blessings in a Backpack has partnered with Quaker Oats and Ipsos, a leading global market research company, on a national evaluation project that measures program impact on a deeper level than bags and pounds of food distributed.This project involved various Blessings’ stakeholders, such as children and teachers, in the evaluation process. Surveys found that, in addition to no longer feeling weekend hunger pangs, children fed by Blessings experience the following impact on their lives:
78% of kids feel cared for by their community.
71% of kids feel that Blessings is helping their family.
60% of kids have fewer behavioral issues.
60% of children report that their school attendance is better.
59% find it is easier to learn at school
