In 2014, an estimated 3,000 homeless children lived in Baltimore. The school system provides transportation to and from school, and two meals and a snack every school day, but no food for weekends or days when schools are closed. Weekend Backpacks for Homeless Kids, launched in February 2015, strives to fill that gap.
Backpacks now serves six schools and distributes 102 backpacks filled with nutritious foods each week. The cost of food provided in a single backpack costs approximately $0.
The Baltimore Women’s Giving Circle grant enabled Backpack to increase the number of weekly backpacks by 50 for the 40-week school year, and expand its program to two additional schools.