Free meals for kids through Backpack Buddy Club

Monday, June 11, 2012

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Kristy Gillentine, abc13.com

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The Houston Food Bank is doing its part to make sure children in southeast Texas don't go hungry this summer with the Backpack Buddy Club.

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Organizers are currently preparing meals for about 2,000 children a week at close to 40 sites throughout the 18 counties served by the Houston Food Bank.

During the school year, many children who rely on free or reduced-price lunches go home to meager or no meals on weekends. The Houston Food Bank's Backpack Buddy program works to fill that gap, sending children at participating schools and other locations home every Friday with a backpack full of nonperishable, vitamin-fortified, child-friendly food.

But what happens during summer break?

"Parents are often working, leaving kids at home, maybe with a package of Ramen noodles," said Ann Svendsen-Sanchez, director of outreach services for the Houston Food Bank. "Families' resources are even less during the summer because parents have to provide every single meal, and sometimes that's difficult."

The Backpack Buddy program provides lunches every Friday to anyone age 18 or younger -- no questions asked.

"All they have to do is show up and they get a free lunch," Svendsen-Sanchez said. "We don't even ask for their name."

With Houston ISD and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department also offering free lunches this summer, the Houston Food Bank is focusing primarily on rural areas outside the inner city.

"Kids in the rural counties are hardest to reach. They have the need, but help isn't easily accessible a lot of the time, so we take this program out to them," Svendsen-Sanchez said.

The Backpack Buddy program will run at most sites through the second week in August. Call 411 to find a location near you.

Donations are always accepted. For more information and a list of food items needed, visit www.houstonfoodbank.org.

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Below is a list of some feeding locations. To find one near you, call 411 or 713-223-3700.