Mountain Backpacks program, in its sixth year, fills about 150 backpacks weekly for kids
One in five children in Colorado goes hungry because parents can’t afford food.
And, according to the Feeding America website, 22 million children receive free or reduced-priced breakfasts and lunches at their schools through national meal programs.
While kids get two meals a day at school, what about on the weekends?
In the foothills, two programs are available to provide food for kids to get them through the weekend when school meals aren’t available.
Known as the 285 Backpack Project and Mountain Backpacks, these programs are run by volunteers who care about kids in the community. Each week, volunteers gather to fill backpacks or bags with soups, peanut butter, milk, snacks, fruit, vegetables and more.
They work with the Mountain Resource Center, Evergreen Christian Outreach and schools to find families that can use the extra help getting by.
285 Backpack Project takes care of kids along the Corridor
On Oct. 10, four women unloaded boxes of food, set them up on a table and in assembly-line fashion, they walked around the table filling plastic grocery bags with food.
The women set up at Elk Creek Elementary near Pine, while their counterparts were at Deer Creek Elementary in Bailey — putting together bags of food for area kids needing extra help over the weekend.
The 285 Backpack Project is sponsored by Conifer Rotary with Charlotte Wytias at the helm. Wytias has been organizing the program for nearly eight years, and she has a list of about 100 people — both Rotary members and community members — who offer to help.
She figures the program doesn’t even serve a quarter of the families who could use the service.
