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2nd Annual “Food 4 Kids” Backpack Program Fundraiser!! « What We’re Eating – A Food & Recipe Blog
Food4Kids

2nd Annual “Food 4 Kids” Backpack Program Fundraiser!!

No child should go hungry...

According to the USDA, an estimated 16 million children lived in food insecure households in 2008. With the most recent national unemployment rates coming in at 9.5%, I can only image that this number has increased over the last two years. During the school year, these underprivileged children can find at least one free or reduced cost hot meal in the cafeteria of their schools but where do these children find their next meal over the weekends or on holidays?

This is where the “Food 4 Kids” Backpack Program comes in. Every Friday, with the help of the Backpack Program, these eligible kids receive a backpack filled with child-friendly foods such as peanut butter, pop-top canned goods, cereal, raisins, granola bars, shelf stable milk and macaroni and cheese. These backpacks are given directly to the kids themselves without requiring their parents to receive a referral to a local food pantry, pick up the food at a separate location or prepare it at home.

Last winter local food writers Alice Q. Robertson and Caron Golden organized the 1st annual San Diego Food 4 Kids Backpack Program Fundraiser where they were able to collect over $6000 dollars of donations and 1200lbs of food! Pretty amazing and inspirational for a grassroots effort driven by two people! This year the program is back and has gained even more momentum. The monetary drive will last for 6 weeks instead of 3 and, in addition to the donations from individuals, over 30 restaurants in the San Diego area will be contributing a dollar per dish for the month of August to the program. On August 21st there will be a food and backpack drive at the Little Italy Mercato where members of the community will be able bring any donations of appropriate non-perishable food or neutral-color backpacks.

As a little side incentive for those wishing to make a monetary donation – all donors will be eligible for prizes donated by local restaurants, businesses and individuals which will be awarded by random drawing at the end of the event. This year I am delighted to be able to contribute a signed copy of the FoodPornDaily Cookbook as a raffle prize.

The complete information on how you can donate to the 2nd Annual San Diego Food 4 Kids Backpack Program is listed below (cut and pasted from the press release!) Please help us feed those children in need – together, we really can make a difference!

The 2010 “Food 4 Kids” fundraiser has three (3) main components:
Monetary Fundraiser: A fundraising site has been set up on firstgiving.com/food4kids to allow interested individuals to make monetary donations, add comments and keep track of the fundraiser’s progress. All donors are eligible for prizes donated by local restaurants and businesses which will be awarded by random drawing at the end of the event.

Backpack and Food Drive on August 21 at Little Italy Mercato: On August 21, a food and backpack drive will be held at the Little Italy Mercato. Members of the community are asked to bring neutral backpacks (as in no logos and preferably black or red) and kid-friendly non-perishable foods (such as applesauce, cereal, fruit cups, mac ‘n cheese, pretzels, etc., and other healthful foods) to the Little Italy Mercato between 9 AM and 1 PM, where Food 4 Kids volunteers and Food Bank personnel will be on hand to collect them.

Dollar-a-Dish Program: August 1 – August 31: A “Dollar-a-Dish” event is set to run throughout the month of August at participating restaurants. These restaurants will select one of their best selling menu items and will contribute $1 to the Food 4 Kids program for every order of that dish sold during the month of August. At present, 30 restaurants have signed on to participate including: Alchemy, Bencotto, Café Chloe, Cosmopolitan Restaurant, Cowboy Star, Croce’s, Cucina Urbana, Dining Details (Catering,) Gaglione Brothers, George’s at the Cove, Hilton Garden Inn – Del Mar, JRDN, JSix, Kensington Grill, Lotsa Pasta, Nine-Ten, O’Brothers, Pizza Fusion, Playa Grill, Ritual Tavern, Royal India, Sessions Public, Soleluna Café, SoNo Trading Company, Starlite, Stingaree, Terra, The Red Door, Urban Solace and Zenbu.

4 comments so far:

  1. What a great post Amanda! Thanks so much for your support!! I am going to post the prize roundup next week – I figure with this going on for 6 weeks we have plenty of time to get the word out! xoxox.

  2. Gisela says:

    What a wonderful program and still some time to get the word out. Supporting kids is always great. I’m glad people like you take time to get all the info together and make others aware of it.

  3. Bonnie Baron says:

    I am interested in volunteering in this program. I live in San Diego.

    Bonnie Baron

  4. Chris powell says:

    Send me some info I would love to help