You may already know that Food For Free operates two Weekend Backpack Programs in Cambridge and Somerville. What you might not know is that we frequently mentor other communities to help them start up new Backpack Programs. Last year, we began to discuss how we could compile our collective expertise into an easily accessible toolkit to help accelerate the creation of more Weekend Backpack Programs in Massachusetts and beyond. Fast forward several months and we’re pleased to announce that our new Weekend Backpack Program Toolkit is now available online for download.
“We have informally helped other communities start up their own Weekend Backpack Programs for a while now,” said Sasha Purpura, Executive Director, Food For Free. “We realized that it would be helpful to other communities to put all of our expertise and experience starting and operating these programs into one place. Our new online Weekend Backpack Program Toolkit contains everything you need to start up a program in your own community, including tips on how to talk to your principal to get their support, sample menu plans, forms, and so much more.”
Our Food For Free team recently worked to help Brookline Thrives start a weekend backpack program serving students and families in Brookline Public Schools. “After a successful pilot year, Brookline Thrives is expanding in just our second year from two to four K-8 schools and most Brookline Early Education Program locations. Food For Free was instrumental in helping Brookline Thrives get organized and be successful. The toolkit is a valuable resource to help any organization think about what and how to get weekend food to students and families in need, but it also helps organizations form their program to be a sustainable partner in their school district. In addition to the toolkit, Food For Free has been so generous with their professional and moral support to Brookline Thrives, truly living up to its mission of ending hunger in our communities,” Kimberly Kushner, Brookline Thrives.
Our Weekend Backpack Program Toolkit is available for easy download via the Food For Free website. Anyone who is interested in starting up a program can also continue to request direct assistance from our team. In addition to the Toolkit, we created a helpful Backpack Program locator to make it easy to locate other Weekend Backpack Programs in Massachusetts. We hope that these new resources will lead to a proliferation of new Weekend Backpack Programs in the state and beyond!
