When B.C. schools were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of hungry kids lost access to the school breakfast and lunch programs they relied on for daily nutrition. Their parents, now facing new childcare demands, a reduction in income and a loss of community resources, scrambled to make ends meet.
Here at Backpack Buddies, we were determined to help these vulnerable families through this critical time. From April 3 onwards, we delivered emergency food to hungry kids in neighbourhoods all over Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island, even sending food to Port Hardy for the first time.
With many more parents experiencing a loss of income and community supports during this health crisis, the number of hungry kids grew exponentially.
These “enhanced” bags of food included the 6 meals and snacks our kids would normally receive over the weekend, plus extra snacks, meals and whole foods including pasta, rice, bread, soups, canned proteins and other pantry staples. As always, everything we packed was kid-friendly, accessible and easy to prepare. Thankfully, because of donors like you, we were able to grow to meet the demand, reaching 2,500 kids every week – an increase of over 50% since the start of the pandemic.
