Sending Hunger Packing One Meal at a Time
The Oromocto and Surrounding Areas Food Bank’s “Send Hunger Packing” pilot project is the latest way the organization is supporting families in the region.
Send Hunger Packing provides weekend backpacks for about 100 children to address food insecurity among those who come to school hungry. The pilot project adds volunteer-made meals and soups to support the children’s families.
“We felt that the single-person backpacks should also support siblings or perhaps parents needing food,” says Elizabeth Crawford, the food bank’s capital project coordinator. “The impact in the community is pretty significant. We are feeding children and families in rural communities who cannot always run to the local store, who do not always have a vehicle or other means to obtain healthy foods.”
The pilot program is being evaluated based on feedback from our clients and teachers to determine how the meals are received and which foods are most readily accepted by families.
Elizabeth says the pilot program would not be possible without the support of the Fredericton Community Foundation, which provided a $5,000 community grant to support the food bank’s operations as they launched the pilot program.