Many East Texas children who participate in free and reduced price school meal programs during the week face hunger on weekends and holidays, when those programs do not operate. The East Texas Food Bank BackPack Program was designed to close this weekend hunger gap for these children. Staff and faculty members at school campuses choose which children join the program, based on an assessment of need. On Fridays, participating children each receive a backpack filled with nutritious, kid-friendly items such as fruit, juice, cereal bars and shelf-stable milk to help last them until Monday morning, when school meal programs resume.

Over 212,00 backpacks were distributed to 13,000 children served by the BackPack Program in FY2024 at partner school sites. If you would like to support the BackPack Program, click here to make a gift now.