Who Will Feed the Kids This Weekend?

Blessings in a Backpack and Dormie Network Foundation partner to help end child hunger in America.

When you were a schoolchild, did you have any worries about heading home on a Friday? Was it due to the amount of homework assigned, or nerves prior to spending the night away at a friend’s house, or making sure you were in the door before your siblings to have first dibs on the snack drawer?

For the 13 million children across the nation for whom food scarcity is an issue, the concerns loom much larger, and unfortunately may be the only way they’ve ever known.

Blessings in a Backpack knows the consequences of hunger are much more than a growling stomach. Poor nutrition can result in a weaker immune system, increased hospitalization, lower IQ, shorter attention spans, and lower academic achievement. Children in need are fed during the school week by federal government programs, and Blessings in a Backpack ensures they’re getting nutritional meals over the weekend, too.

Dormie Network Foundation is proud to support this mission, with in-kind donations for golf tournament fundraisers and galas since 2021. The Foundation donated three stay and play packages and two one-year memberships in 2021, which raised more than $27,500 in critical operating funds. Money raised in each community stays in that community to feed local children.

“One individual changes the entire landscape of our organization,” said Beth Bush, director of athletic and strategic partnerships. Volunteers — from high-school students to teachers, parents, community members, and professionals — work with Blessings in a Backpack to start a program and feed kids in their community. Blessings empowers volunteers with tools to fundraise and order food and connects them with community partners. They provide weekly support to ensure the food gets to children to take home for the weekend.

The organization is expanding organically yet rapidly. With over 1,100 programs nationwide and eight regional chapters, Blessings in a Backpack made 3.2 million hunger-free weekends a reality last school year. The chapters are in Chicago; Frederick, Maryland; Louisville, Kentucky; Jacksonville, Florida; Orlando, Florida; Northwest Oregon; Southwest Florida; and Waukesha, Wisconsin.

With natural crossover to other programs with a youth focus, Blessings in a Backpack partners with several First Tee chapters, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, YWCA, YMCA, and the Texas Rangers Youth Academy, so kids leave school with food each Friday.

Blessings in a Backpack provides child-friendly, shelf-stable food, and it's something the kids can prepare on their own, without electricity. Items include individual servings of cereals, ravioli, mac and cheese, beef jerky, fruit cups, Goldfish crackers, and Scooby Snacks.

“Donations like the in-kind from Dormie Network allow us to feed even more kids in the communities we support,” said Beth Bush. “Many of these communities don’t have the capacity to fundraise on their own, so high-value packages like these Stay and Plays as well as the donated memberships to Dormie Network help spread awareness of our cause and ensure we can keep growing the program.”

Blessings in a Backpack’s Mission: Mobilize communities, individuals, and resources to provide food on the weekends for school-aged children across America who might otherwise go hungry.

Blessings in a Backpack’s 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.

Learn more about Blessings in a Backpack.

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