Start Your Own Backpack Program

Weekend backpack program toolkit

everything you need to start one in your community

Want to start a Weekend Backpack Program in your own community? Our toolkit has everything you need!

Food For Free operates two Weekend Backpack Programs in Cambridge and Somerville in Massachusetts. We have mentored teams in many communities to help them get started, too. We’ve put together this guide to help make it easier for other communities to start their own Weekend Backpack Programs. Using our Weekend Backpack Program Toolkit, you’ll find everything you need to know to get a program started in your own community! Inside our toolkit you’ll find:

Resources to help you determine need for a program in your community
Tips for how to get school principals and other educators to support your new program
Recommendations on how to secure funding
How to determine student eligibility
Tips on food procurement
Sample menu plans
A logistics guide to running a program
Program assessments
Signup forms and informational flyers for families and teachers

Download your Backpack Toolkit HERE

But first, please provide your contact info so we can offer additional assistance, track the usefulness of our toolkit, and keep you up-to-date.

find a backpack program in your MA community

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT STARTING YOUR OWN PROGRAM

more Resources to help you get started

"Brookline Thrives is a weekend backpack program serving students and families in the Public Schools of Brookline. 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."

"One year ago, our team got on the phone with Alanna from Food For Free to find out about their amazing Weekend Backpack Program in Cambridge, MA. This call came about after our team started discussing why no programs existed in DC, beyond the free and reduced meal program, to help kids in school, in particular, elementary school students, who are deemed food insecure.

Alanna’s enthusiasm to help us as we kicked our program off in DC was not only so incredibly imperative at a time during which we knew very little – but it also demonstrates Food For Free’s approach to sharing the depth of their knowledge in the spirit of trying to help children around the country – together, unified with one goal."

"Food For Free was imperative in helping us begin the backpack program in Weymouth. When I first heard of the Weekend Backpack Program in Cambridge, I knew it was something I wanted to start in Weymouth.

Alanna from Food For Free was my sounding board and go-to person while doing this. Thanks to Food For Free, the Weymouth Weekend Backpack Program has been up and running for two years."

We want to to express a heartfelt note of gratitude to Hunger Free Colorado for providing the groundwork for this Massachusetts based Toolkit. Many of us who have started Weekend Backpack Programs in Massachusetts have used this valuable resource and are grateful to them for their work in this area.