Blessings in a Backpack bridges weekend gap for food-insecure kids

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Center for Health & Wellness in Winter Park, Florida, was crowded on the morning of July 25. It went beyond the normal traffic, folks hitting the gym or heading in for the center’s other offerings — classes on everything from nutrition and meditation to medicine, both Eastern and Western.

Today, there are teams in matching shirts milling about as volunteers set up tables with boxes full of items like granola bars and fruit cups. Soon, these competitors, 12 teams in all representing organizations including Advent Health, Sonny’s BBQ and Red Robin, will wind ’round the setups in lines, filling bags with snacks.

The winner will enjoy bragging rights for being first to finish, but all will enjoy the satisfaction of packing 2,500 bags that will be delivered to 19 different schools in Orange and Osceola Counties, helping children start the new school year with the nourishment they need to learn and thrive — and might not have gotten without Blessings in a Backpack.

The nonprofit, founded by Missy Hammerstrom in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2005, was born of Hammerstrom’s experience volunteering in a local elementary school.

“She was eating lunch with some of the other volunteers and a little girl came up to her and asked for her apple,” Brent Glass tells me.

Glass is the regional vice president for Blessings in a Backpack.

“Of course, Missy gave her the apple, but wanted to know if she’d gotten enough to eat. And the girl said, ‘Oh yes, I’m just taking it home so I’ll have something to eat on the weekend.'”

The feeling you’re getting now? Hammerstrom had it, too. She went home and asked her husband to clear out the garage.

“She bought some backpacks, put food in them and the next week she took them to that school to distribute. And the rest, as they say, is history.”

What began in the Hammerstrom’s Kentucky garage is now an organization with more than a thousand chapters in almost every U.S. state. Central Florida’s was established in 2020, with a generous start from the Kate and Justin Rose Foundation, Kristen Gustafson tells me.

Gustafson chairs the Central Florida chapter.

“While the Roses no longer live in our community, their legacy lives on through the thousands of children we continue to serve each week.”

Nearly 29,000, to be specific, over a total of 991,000 hunger-free weekends. This fall, they’ll celebrate the one-millionth.

I’d never heard of Blessings in a Backpack until a reader wrote in, inviting me to check out the Race to Feed event. Several volunteers mentioned they thought it was time to level up their visibility. And as Central Florida children head back to schools where many enjoy free and reduced-cost meals, there are many weekend gaps to bridge.

The backpacks, for a variety of reasons, have since become simple bags that go home with the kids, but the sustenance within is what matters.

“Food insecurity remains a significant challenge,” says Gustafson. “Nearly 14 million children in the United States, including more than 800,000 children in Florida, live in food-insecure households.”

In Central Florida, she tells me, the number of students in need is roughly 140,000.

“Those numbers are staggering, and unfortunately, they continue to climb,” she says. “We hope that by creating awareness in our communities, that people are inspired to take action, whatever that means for them.”

Blessings in a Backpack runs a tight ship to keep costs low, says Glass. In part through national partnerships with partners like global food distributor Sysco.

“That gives us a competitive edge in keeping our costs low,” he notes. “And this coming school year, despite what’s going on in grocery stores with inflation and rising food costs, we were able to enter a contract with them with zero increase in food cost.”

Even so, it costs $475 to feed one child for every weekend over the school year. That equates to about $15 each month.

“You could boil it down to $5 a weekend. Less than your Netflix subscription. These are very attainable giving amounts that can have a real impact,” Glass says.

Donations, one-time and recurring, can be set up on the chapter’s website at orlando.blessingsinabackpack.org. There are other ways to help as well, along with volunteer opportunities, though the latter is somewhat limited.

“We love working with local businesses and corporate entities,” says Gustafson. “We can tailor a package that fits their timing and budget.”

Right now, the Central Florida chapter enjoys volunteers from corporate team-building events, through both the Orange County Convention Center for visiting groups for corporate team-building events, as well as local organizations.

“Now through September, we are one of the local nonprofits featured on Target Circle. We earn votes that can be directed to support local charities, including our Central Florida chapter.”

Glass adds that Race event volunteer opportunities are many.

“And we’re always looking for people to serve on the advisory board, philanthropically minded individuals who are looking to give back their time, talent or treasure as we say in the nonprofit world. People who sit on the board, who are ambassadors in the community. It’s a different type of time commitment, but can be very rewarding.”

Interested parties can also “adopt” a school near their business or corporate office to fund weekly packs for an entire year (or longer) or jump on the bandwagon to help sponsor next year’s Race to Feed event, which the chapter hopes to continue to grow.

“Last school year, we served over 4,000 kids across 33 schools and programs in Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties,” Gustafson says.

Schools could have a handful of students in need, or hundreds. Surveys, she says, reflect the impact of the weekend packages: 78 percent of students feel cared for by their community, 70 percent report improved attendance, 60 percent experience fewer behavioral challenges in school.

“This reminds us that food is about so much more than nutrition,” Gustafson says. “When their tummies aren’t rumbling, kids are more present and ready to learn.”